The playing of Christian Ferras tends toward a small, boxy sound and interpretive choices marked by displaced intensity. Either the fire is lacking, such as in the opening of Chausson's Poème (where he is so restrained that he seems to sputter off the string in pianissimo passages), or it runs uncharacteristically hot and full, as in the Andante from the Fauré Sonata. There are moments on this disc when he "gets it", such as Tzigane or the Allegro Vivo from the Debussy Sonata, both of which he plays with the appropriate brio. But his playing tends to exist on an emotional flatline, with a dull consistency of tone. Honegger's Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin is played very much in tune, but without poetry. It's not a great piece--there is a reason it has not found its way into the repertoire along with solo violin efforts by Ysaÿe, Bartók, and Bach--and performances like this one do not aid its cause.

Conductor Georges Sébastien seems to have matters under control during Tzigane, allowing Ravel's stunning orchestral eccentricities to be heard clearly and creating an excellent blend between the soloist and the group. But his reading of the Poème is sloppy and unclear, and he fails to find much music in the piece. It could be the recording quality--this is a re-release of an old mono recording--but the blame more likely must be assigned to the generally uninspired playing. The bright spot on this release is the pianism of Pierre Barbizet.

--Daniel Felsenfeld