The pieces on this album are souvenirs in a personal way for violinist
Johan Dalene
; his parents had CDs of virtuoso violin music that they would play on an annual family road trip, and they made a strong impression on the future violin rising star. With a few exceptions, they would all have been common enough on concert programs a century ago as encores or interludes. Those exceptions are part of the draw on this fine release; composer
Amanda Meier
has been somewhat left behind by the surge of interest in female composers, and her Allegro molto from an 1879 set of
Six pieces for violin and piano
is an accomplished piece of virtuoso writing.
Franz Waxman
's
Carmen Fantasy
, originally part of the score for the 1946 film Humoresque, is a bit more common but certainly can stand another go-round. That work was associated with
Jascha Heifetz
, who played it on the Bell Telephone Hour radio program, and
Heifetz
is certainly one source of
Dalene
's style. However, a strong attraction on this album is that he draws on various models from the golden age; his portamento, nicely approaching but never going into the territory of too much, reminds one of
Fritz Kreisler
, who is also on the program. That program is a well-put-together package that combines real knuckle-busters like
Ravel
Tzigane
with more melodic items. As a whole, it harks back to a time when classical music had a direct physical appeal that it would do well to emulate today. Other attractions include the smooth, circumspect accompanimental work of
Peter Friis Johansson
and the
BIS
label's surround sound, recorded at the Sendesaal Bremen. An exciting release that continues to promise great things from
. ~ James Manheim