Max Bruch: Scottish Fantasy; Serenade / Fedotov, Yablonsky (2004)

Though the Scottish Fantasy, with its wealth of traditional melodies, ripely presented, is firmly based in the repertory, most of Bruch's other concertante works for violin are largely unknown. Here's one of the most ambitious, the Serenade, dating from 1900, 20 years after the Fantasy. Its breadth and weight belies the lightweight title. It's a warm and fluent work in Bruch's high-Romantic style, built on clearly defined themes that lack only the last degree of memorability of the Fantasy. The third of the four movements, a dreamy, lyrical Notturno, comes nearest to matching the Fantasy's natural glow, but the other movements have striking moments, too. Bruch had the idea of putting this substantial work among his numbered concertos but changed his mind.
Maxim Fedotov gives a warm, thrusting performance of both the Serenade and the Fantasy.
He may be a little short on the mystery and tenderness, but his bravura playing, helped by fullblooded accompaniment from Dmitry Yablonsky, makes the results consistently compelling.

Maxim Fedotov

The violinist Maxim Fedotov is a People's Artist of Russia, soloist of the Moscow State Academic Philharmonic Society, and laureate of many international competitions including the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Tokyo International Competition. Acclaimed by the press as a Russian Paganini, he performs all the main violin repertoire, and has appeared in the principal concert halls of Russia, and in Western Europe in Milan, at the Salzburg Mozarteum, in Madrid, Leipzig, Berlin, and Vienna, as well as in Japan and elsewhere. He has performed with all the major orchestras of Russia, Europe and Japan, and has a repertoire of more than fifty concertos. From 1998 to 2001 he served as a Professor of the Moscow State Conservatory and since 2002 has been President of the Association of Laureates of the International Tchaikovsky competition. In 2003 he became professor and head of the violin and viola section of the Russian Music Academy. He has served as a jury member for various international violin competitions, and has given master-classes in Germany, Spain, Japan, Croatia, Australia and elsewhere. Maxim Fedotov was the first violinist to give a recital on both the violins left by Paganini.

Dmitry Yablonsky

Dmitry Yablonsky was born in 1962 into a musical family. His mother, Oxana Yablonskaya, is a highly regarded concert pianist, and his father is a principal oboist with the Moscow Radio and Television Orchestra. He entered the Central School of Music for Gifted Children in Moscow at the age of six, and at the age of nine made his orchestral debut with Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major. In 1977, he and his mother emigrated to the United States, where he studied at the Juilliard School of Music, the Curtis Institute, and Yale University. His principal cello teachers have been Isaak Buravsky, Stefan Kalianov, Aldo Parisot and Zara Nelsova. Dmitry Yablonsky has performed in many prestigious venues throughout the world, including La Scala, Milan, the Concertgebouw in the Netherlands, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, and St Petersburg Philharmonic Hall, in addition to numerous appearances in the United States, including concerts at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He has appeared in collaboration with major orchestras and conductors, and together with chamber music partners of distinction. His interest in conducting began at Yale, when he studied with Otto-Werner Muller and also with Yuri Simonov. He made his debut as a conductor in 1990 with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome. In 1999 he was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, and has appeared as guest conductor with orchestras in Europe and in the Far East, and was for three years Principal Guest Conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. In 1998 he founded the summer Puigcerda Festival on the French-Spanish border, and in 2002 became Principal Conductor of the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. His many recordings, both as a cellist and as a conductor, include a number of releases for Naxos and Marco Polo.



Tracklisting:

01. Scottish Fantasy, Op.46 - I. Introduction: Grave / 4:05
02. Scottish Fantasy Op. 46 - II. Adagio Cantabile / 4:53
03. Scottish Fantasy, Op.46 - III. Allegro - Adagio / 6:34
04. Scottish Fantasy Op. 46 - IV. Andante Sostenuto / 7:17
05. Scottish Fantasy, Op.46 - V. Finale: Allegro guerriero - Un poco tranquillo - Tempo I - Adagio - Allegro / 10:01
06. Serenade, Op.75 - I. Andante con moto / 9:55
07. Serenade, Op.75 - II. Allegro moderato, alla marcia - Un poco meno vivo / 9:40
08. Serenade, Op.75 - III. (Notturno): Andante sostenuto / 10:32
09. Serenade, Op.75 - IV. Allegro energico e vivace - Andante con moto / 9:40



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