Brüll Violin Concerto etc. from Cameo

[Alan Howe]

Cameo Classics' website is now advertising a new release containing Brüll's Violin Concerto & Macbeth Overture and Jadassohn's Serenade for Flute and Strings:
http://www.cameo-classics.com/home.html?page=shop.product_details&category_id=86&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=89

[Alan Howe]

Well, my copy arrived today and from an initial audition it appears to be one of Cameo's best productions. This time the folded sleevenote (introduced by our own Gareth Vaughan - congrats!) is much more clearly printed and easy to read; and the contents of the CD are very attractive - it is hard, for example, to imagine a more lovely account of the Brüll Violin Concerto (a gem of a piece) than the one given here by that extremely capable soloist, Ilya Hoffman. One might still be aware of a certain thinness in the orchestral violin section, but, recorded in a generous acoustic, the hard work of all concerned is plain to hear. I haven't said this of many of Cameo's CDs, but this is surely a must-buy.

[Mark Thomas]

My copy is on its way too - and I'm relieved by Alan's positive mini-review.

[Mark Thomas]

Having now listened to this CD I must echo, but won't repeat, Alan's very positive assessment of both the quality of Brüll's Violin Concerto and the performance which it receives. Jadassohn's Serenade for Flute and Strings is quite a substantial four movement work of over 27 minutes duration which is chock full of melody and which receives a sympathetic performance. I'm not exactly a flute fanatic but I thought this work was, at the very least, a pleasant diversion well played. For me the disappointment was a performance of Brüll's really fine Macbeth Overture which is rather perfunctory and seems under rehearsed. The care with his phrasing which conductor Michael Laus exhibits in the Concerto seems sadly lacking here and the result is an interpretation which, for me, doesn't match up to the excitement of the only other recording - from Zsolt Deaky conducting the Nürnberg Symphony on a Genesis LP from the 1970s. Overall, though, a hugely welcome release.