Paganini: Violin Concerto 1 - Tchaikovsky: Sérénade mélancolique, Valse-Scherzo

Album review

Japanese-born violinist Midori emerged as a sensational child prodigy, making her New York Philharmonic debut at the staggering age of ten. She was quickly taken under the wing of conductor Zubin Mehta and began her recording career began. Unlike so many child prodigies whose rapid ascension to fame often results in just as rapid of a burnout, Midori has retained her standing as a respected and sought-after artist and humanitarian. Her early recordings clearly demonstrate her almost unbelievable technical prowess while her later albums have shown that she has built upon the solid technical foundations to include sincere, satisfying musical understanding as well. This Newton Classics album stems from early in Midori's career -- 1987 -- with recordings of the Paganini First Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Sérénade mélancolique, Op. 26, and Valse-scherzo, Op. 34. While her playing at this young age is far from cold, it is definitely more rigid and less fluid than her adult contributions. The pyrotechnics in the Paganini concerto are certainly the highlight of the album as Midori effortlessly tosses them off as though she's playing nothing more than a scale. The two Tchaikovsky works offer fewer opportunities to show off technical abilities and as such are slightly less dazzling than the Paganini. Fans of this exceptional artist will, however, find merit in this album as a testament to the increase in musical introspection that has come to Midori with age.

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