Post Description

This ravishingly romantic program should win Julia Fischer even more fans as she continues her move from the relatively small circulation of her early label, Pentatone, to Decca. The repertoire has been astutely chosen, mixing two chestnuts -- the Chausson Poeme and The Lark Ascending of Vaughan Williams -- with two obscure works by Suk and Respighi. But this isn't 69 min. of swooning background music. After stating its dreamy melody in double-stops, the Respighi Poeme autumnale picks up speed and becomes a showpiece. I wouldn't call it inspired. Violinists are always looking to expand their fairly limited concerto repertoire, and yet there is only one other version of this work in the catalog, according to the product description. that may be because Respighi's idiom hews fairly close to movie music, but there's enough atmosphere to keep the ear engaged, especially when you have a soloist, like the impeccable Ms.Fischer, determined to bring out the best in the score.