Tasmin Little, Piers Lane - Virtuoso Violin (2001)

Tasmin Little and her accompanist Piers Lane begin this most generous recital disc (comprising 72 minutes of music) in commanding style, with an appropriately gradiloquent account of Kreisler's Praeludium and Allegro. The playing is committed and demonstrative, although Little is less convincing in the other Kreisler work, the Caprice viennois, where her vocalization and sense of timing lack that special Viennese charm so characteristic of Kreisler's original compositions. Similar criticisms could also be applied to the Brahms Hungarian Dances, two of which are heard in arrangements by Joachim. Both are admirably phrased and played with gritty resolve, and yet they seem somewhat contained and elliptical in style. Fibich's ''Poeme'' and Drigo's ''Valse bluette'' may be viewed with a certain condescending scorn these days, but both are delightful salon pieces, and receive affectionate treatment here.
Little plays with a chaste elegance and finely modulated tone in Wilhelmj's transcription of Schubert's Ave Maria, and brings similar refinement to the Heifetz arrangement of Debussy's Beau soir, both sensitively supported by Piers Lane. His playing is particularly distinguished in the Ravel Tzigane, with which the disc ends. Although the general effect is reasonably convincing, Lane seems happier with the essential gipsy ethos of the music than his partner. She, however, surmounts every technical obstacle with enormous skill and bravura.
Bloch's ''Nigun'', the second of his Baal shem portraits of Hassidic life, is played with impressive passion, although it seems a pity that the remaining pieces from the set are less than ideally familiar. By way of total contrast, Little brings flair and humorous spontaneity to her account of William Kroll's Banjo and Fiddle, a work of deceptive intricacy; and she seems totally at ease with the Heifetz version of ''The flight of the bumble-bee'' from Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tale of Tsar Saltan.
The recital also includes works by Shostakovich, Delius, Wieniawski and Sarasate, all of which are regular virtuoso fare and receive erudite and intelligent performances. As is so often the case these days, any collector nurtured in the hands of Heifetz, Kreisler, Elman or Szigeti may well find this playing a shade anonymous and less than ideally compelling. That much said, Little is certainly a fine player, whose superbly recorded playing will provide much enjoyment.