On this Rubicon Classics release, violinist Fenella Humphreys offers a kind of program that few or no others have tried. She plays caprices, mixing items from the classic crowd-pleasing era of the genre with contemporary virtuoso examples. Paganini appears several times, and Fritz Kreisler is also represented. Among the contemporary works, most were commissioned by Humphreys and here receive their premieres. Humphreys' concept is worthwhile in itself; one is tempted to say that if more musicians had cultivated contemporary ...
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On this Rubicon Classics release, violinist Fenella Humphreys offers a kind of program that few or no others have tried. She plays caprices, mixing items from the classic crowd-pleasing era of the genre with contemporary virtuoso examples. Paganini appears several times, and Fritz Kreisler is also represented. Among the contemporary works, most were commissioned by Humphreys and here receive their premieres. Humphreys' concept is worthwhile in itself; one is tempted to say that if more musicians had cultivated contemporary music with links to the past, the whole scene would be healthier than it is, but it is Humphreys' execution of the idea that really impresses. Hearing an hour and a quarter of solo violin music here is simply not an issue as regards tedium. Most of her new music is British, but she includes a Caprice No. 1 from the American country-classical violinist Mark O'Connor, and the styles range from modernist to folkish (at the end, for a wonderful conclusion). For the climax, everything is...
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