Franz Waxman (1906-1967): Tristan and Isolde: Love Music (1946)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): Marietta's Lied from the opera 'Die Tote Stadt' (1916-1919)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): 4 pieces from Much Ado About Nothing, Op. 11 (1920)
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962): Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen (before 1910)
Richard Strauss (1864-1949): Violin Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 18, TrV 151 (1887)
Richard Wagner (1813-1883): Träume from "Wesendonck-Lieder" (1857-1858) - arranged for violin and piano by Leopold Auer (1845-1930)

This release pairs a luxuriant post-Romantic ethos with the clarity and intimacy provided by the violin and piano combination. This is on the face of it a fascinating mixture, and likely provides a rewarding concert in the concert hall.

Both artists are highly accomplished. Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son has already made several highly rated releases as a solo artist. I have particularly enjoyed 'Modern Times', a release of 20th century music by Berg, Prokofiev Stravinsky and Ravel. Similarly, Bulgarian violinist Svetlin Roussev has also some excellent releases to his credit, including one of the Sibelius Violin Concerto and the concerto of his Bulgarian countryman Pancho Vladigerov.

I therefore had a high level of confidence in the quality of the playing and recording, and that faith is justified. If the program attracts you, I would not hesitate to acquire these performances.

The program itself is generally one of a series of not quite but almost 'miniatures', with one substantial work, the Strauss sonata. Outside of the Strauss, it is a pleasing meal of petit fours rather than a main course.

All performances are enjoyable, and all are clearly the works of highly skilled composers. They all also have their place in the solo/chamber repertoire, most of the smaller pieces with orchestral predecessors. I am more familiar with the orchestral versions where they exist, and sometimes found myself longing for the richness of timbre and dynamics those provide. It's not quite the point of this release however, and both soloists promote the pieces with obvious love and enjoyment.

The Waxman 'Love Music' piece focuses on the Wagner opera Tristan und Isolde, which happens to be one of my favorite Wagner pieces (along with the Wesendonk Lieder, more on that later). It is based primarily on the Love Duet in Act 2 and its composition partly the result of the collaboration between Waxman and the great violinist Jascha Heifetz. This is heresy to some probably, but I do prefer my Wagner in short 'bleeding chunks', but I find this a little too short, and missing the enormous orchestra swelling of sound I have grown used to.

It is followed by similarly excised excerpts of works by Korngold - Marietta's Lied from the opera Die Tote Stadt, and then 4 pieces from the incidental music Korngold wrote for a performance of the Shakespeare play 'Much Ado About Nothing'. In its chamber orchestra version, the latter work consists of around 15 separate pieces, each usually short as it the way with such incidental music. The 4 pieces selected for the violin/piano version are very pleasant, but again I found myself thinking I was biding my time until the main work came along. The arrangement of the aria from Die Tote Stadt is, like everything on this release, beautifully played, if somewhat lovingly on the slower side.

The Kreisler pieces that follow, three of the Waltzes from Old Vienna, are enjoyable, well played again, but add a little to the episodic nature of the first half of the recital.

The most substantial piece is the Strauss sonata, which has now quite a few recorded performances, and proves to be a worthy centerpiece. It is a somewhat early piece, the most accomplished of this composer's chamber works, and shows some of the hallmarks of the great composer to come. The opening is a great example, with hints of the later 'Ein Heldenleben' heroic ethos (same key as well), but the rest of the movement developed in a more conventional form than a symphonic poem.

My personal favorite version of this sonata coming into this review is that by Kyung-Wha Chung and Krystian Zimerman – which is a pretty high standard for comparison. It's a different coupling of course, the Respighi Violin Sonata (several artists use the same coupling). So, your choice may be swayed by the couplings. The current release shows a little more rubato, and slightly slower speeds in the first movement, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and found the approach compelling and a persuasive account of what is a much lesser-known minor masterpiece of this master composer of rich orchestral and operatic scores.

As an aside, it is instructive to compare all modern performances of the Strauss with that of Jascha Heifetz on the Sony Classical Original Jackets Collection box set – that performance is much faster than any modern performance I have heard. Great playing of course (Brooks Smith on the piano), and the frisson of a live performance, but overall, I prefer Chung/Zimerman or this current release under review.

The start of the first movement is instructive as to the differences. Chung/Zimerman start brightly, and yet with a subtle hint of shyness, the violin and piano placed a little further back than the current release. I find this sort of detail is what finally would have me choose the Chung/Zimerman for a desert island if forced to choose, but the current release is wonderful as well in its own terms. A prospective buyer should not hesitate if the couplings generate interest.

I relished the start of the final movement, Yeol Eum Son plays the opening thoughtful introduction beautifully, and then the launching into the declamatory Allegro section is wonderfully done by both players.

I loved the final piece, the 'Träume' song from the Wesendonk Lieder, arranged for violin/piano by Leopold Auer. These songs are favorites of mine. While I still overall prefer them sung and with a full orchestra, I must say this provided a lushly perfect ending to the recital.