Some would suspect this disc to be an abomination in the eyes of God and man; it is actually a pleasant little disc of what used to be called encores. You remember encores: the technically virtuosic but musically lightweight works that a performer would play after the real recital was over. Now those days are gone. Nowadays what used to be encores -- the chocolate mousse and Napoleon brandy after a full musical meal -- are the meat and potatoes of the music industry.
This disc is an entire dessert tray full of sweet confections. Some of them are extremely light, past the point of frivolity to inanity: John Williams' Devil's Dance (from The Witches of Eastwick) and John Morris' A Transylvanian Lullaby (from Young Frankenstein). Some are musically more substantial but still pretty silly: Sarasate's Concert Fantasy on Gound's Faust, Korngold's Caprice Fantastique, and especially the piano-and-violin transcription of
Saint-Saëns Danse Macabre. Some are charming:
Brahms' Walpurgisnacht,
Mendelssohn's Hexenlied, and especially
William Bolcom's gorgeous Graceful Ghost Rag. Some are flat-out stunning: Tartini's "Devil's Trill" Sonata.
All are played with technical mastery, a great sense of fun, and no sense of slumming by virtuoso violinist
Gil Shaham. Some aspects of the disc are goofy: the photograph on the back cover with Shaham and his accompanist holding flashlights under their faces reminds one of Cub Scout camp, and the liner notes are the purest pandering. But, despite all this, the disc is a lot of fun. Recommended for those who like their daredevil violin virtuosity on the light side.