"Russian Serenade Prokofiev Tchaikovsky Glazunov"

Martin Beaver and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony "Russian Serenade Prokofiev Tchaikovsky Glazunov" CBC Records SMCD 5209.

One of Canada's national treasures is on the move again. Violinist Martin Beaver was recently appointed as First Violinist in the internationally acclaimed Tokyo String Quartet. A renowned soloist and chamber musician, Beaver shows off his amazing talents in this presentation of Russian compositions, firmly supported by the KWS in the stellar acoustics of The Centre In The Square. The Russian composers featured are three of the better known, although the pieces themselves may not be. Concerti by Prokofiev and Glazunov show off the virtuosity of the violinist, covering a wide range of musical emotions along the way. Rather than the famous Violin Concerto of Tchaikovsky, we hear other works written by him around the same period of time. Given this proximity to other major compositions, it is no surprise to the ear to discover similarities with the Violin Concerto, Fourth Symphony and Eugene Onegin, in the Serenade Melancholique, Valse-Scherzo, and Souvenir d'un lieu cher. Indeed, when Tchaikovsky was working on the orchestration of the Violin Concerto with one of his prize students, he came to the realization that the middle movement did not fit well with the outer movements, and so it was replaced and became part of Souvenir. That said, all the works are worthy, and Beaver gives a stellar rendering from start to finish.

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