This is an enticing program, particularly for the two Franz Waxman items, which will have fans of the composer delighted. The great film composer’s arrangement of Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 manages to squeeze bits of every tune in the original work’s concluding quick section into just two-and-a-half minutes of violin and orchestra fireworks. Even more interesting is the Tristan and Isolde Fantasia for violin, piano, and orchestra–wonderfully lush and decadent, and proving once again that Isolde’s Liebestod sounds much better without Isolde.
John Corigliano’s Chaconne from The Red Violin is a splendid piece, and it makes an excellent foil to the Adams, which also features a chaconne as its central movement. The performances are quite good, but the competition is fierce: from Joshua Bell in the Corigliano, and from both Gidon Kremer (Nonesuch) and Robert McDuffie (Telarc) in the Adams. Chloë Hanslip isn’t quite in their league. She’s an estimable player, but her slender tone gets swamped now and then in the Waxman pieces, and she doesn’t project the mysteriously lyrical opening movement of the Adams with as strong a profile as the competition (particularly at this relatively slow tempo).
Certainly I have no complaints about Slatkin’s conducting, or regarding the well-balanced engineering. In the final analysis, although you can perhaps do a bit better in the Corigliano and Adams items, the value of this disc lies in bringing all of these varied and enjoyable works together at such an attractive price. Intelligent planning and solid musicianship certainly combine to overcome any minor technical or interpretive reservations.
