The gimmick here is Vadim Repin’s use of same “Ruby” Stradivarius that Pablo de Sarasate played at the premiere of the Symphonie espagnole. Of course, changes in the instrument itself, the strings, and most significantly of all, the bow (which is as responsible for the sound as the violin itself), make this fact completely worthless, but it’s a cute thought. More to the point, Repin is an excellent violinist and this program of well-chosen French violin classics is extremely attractive. Lalo’s Symphonie isn’t as popular as it once was, despite the finale’s appearance in a recent car commercial. It’s actually a difficult piece to hold together; the five movements have a tendency to meander, and Repin has not quite figured out what to do with the third movement Intermezzo, overcompensating for its phlegmatic character by slightly exaggerating the droopiness of the fourth movement. I wouldn’t make too much of this, however, given the high standard of his playing on the whole. Besides, his performance of Chausson’s Poème, if not quite in Oistrakh’s league, is clearly cut from the same cloth, and his Tzigane is a show-stopper. In fact, all of this music is just so pretty that any further criticism would be like complaining about the quality of water in a desert oasis. Just take it and enjoy.
