Bruch: Scottish Fantasy; Serenade.(Sound Recording Review)

Bruch: Scottish Fantasy; Serenade. Maxim Fedotov, violin; Dmitry Yablonsky, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. Naxos 8.557395.

Like so many other writers and composers, Max Bruch (1838-1920) was mildly annoyed that people remembered him almost exclusively for only one thing, in his case the violin concertos, and in particular the First Concerto. He did, after all, write hundreds of other works in a career that spanned over fifty years. But looked at in another light, I suppose it's better to be remembered well for one important thing than never to be remembered at all.

Anyway, this Naxos disc aims to rectify the situation somewhat by presenting another famous piece by Bruch, the Scottish Fantasy from 1880, alongside a lesser-known work, the Serenade from 1900. The Fantasy is, of course, Bruch's compendium of Scottish folk tunes, over thirty minutes' worth, loosely tied together in five movements. Things begin rather oddly with an introduction marked "Grave," which is exactly how violinist Maxim Fedotov plays it, literally. It's slow and solemn to the nth degree before giving way to the more familiar and frolicsome melodies that follow. However, Fedotov never really seems to let his hair down in this music, taking it all a tad more seriously than what I, at least, am used to. Admittedly, what I am used to are the performances of Perlman (EMI) and ...