JAVS Fall 2007

That off my chest, I can only admire $lapin's digital flexibility in Paganini's murderous stretches (Caprice Nr. 3) and his courage in tackling the Allemande from Bach's 6th Suite in the original key. However, I am not completely convinced by the result in the larter case, since the permanent usc of very high positions makes for tonal tensions of the wrong kind (the piece is writ ten for a five-stringed instrument, and Bach makes full use of it!). The Last Rose ofSummer. Viola pieces by Kreisler, Radulescu, Kugel, Ernst, Scriabin, Zemtsov, Rubinstein, Haendel. Mikhail Zemtsov, viola; Irina Sbishkina, piano. Natural Acoustics NA5001CD. More than a regular commercial recordjng, this CD is unashamedly a calling card for the soloist: no infor mation is given on the music (some of which is quite unknown), just a detailed listing of the soloist's admittedly impressive achievements. Zemtsov- a stu dent of Michael Kugel - follows on his teacher's foot steps with a virtuoso recital, recorded live. To my ears, the Rubinstein Sonata is ruined by a recording that confines the al l-important piano to an acoustic no man's land. Most of the other pieces are either unac companied or have a simple piano background, and they work well, in spite of the over-resonant acoustic. Michael Radulescu's 10-minure, tri-partite rumina tions and Evgueni Zemtsov's (a relative? we are not told) tuneful morsel are highly enjoyable. Kreisler's Schmw-Capriu sounds quite heavy-footed (and mem ories of a performance by Nobuko Imai tell me that it's not because it's played on the viola). Kugel's Prilud~ Y.raj~ finds Zemtsov in his element, as does Ernst's Last Rou of Summer (in a transcription by Kugel that avoids some of the piece's cruellest stretch es without sacrificing any of its bri ll iance) . It's hard to see the point of the "Bonus Track", the so-called "Handel" concerto, as "played by Dana Zemtsov (12 years old)": this is quite OK as far as it goes, but it's bound to cause the promising young lady much embarrassment in a few years' time.

J URNAL F THE AMERICAN VIOLA OCIETY 64