Daniel Hope - East Meets West (2004)

Any album titled "East Meets West" may raise suspicions of crossover commercialism, and purists may reject this disc as a contrived hybrid of classical and international genres. But violinist Daniel Hope presents a program that is much more than a superficial exercise in multiculturalism, and his selections reveal the exotic impulses that touched many composers in the twentieth century. While Ravi Shankar's Raga Piloo and Swara-Kakali overtly reach westward, particularly in the employment of a violin with the Indian sitar, tabla, and tanpura, Ravel's Tzigane, de Falla's Suite populaire espagnol, and Bartók's Romanian Folk Dances are more dispersed in their regional influences and certainly suggest no connections with Asia. Yet these works sound surprisingly unified in mood and coloration because elements of folk songs and dance rhythms permeate them; and the use of the luthéal -- a piano modified to produce lute and cimbalom timbres -- goes far in conveying the flavors of music from distant lands. Only Alfred Schnittke's Violin Sonata 1955, which receives its premiere recording here, sounds conventionally European and fairly bland in comparison with the other pieces. Hope's performances are energetic and varied in tone, reflecting a deep concern for the pieces' different styles, expressions, and idioms. Warner's sound quality is clear and focused.