Paganini [Concerto] Concertos for Violin and Orchestra—No. 1 in E flat, Op. 6; No. 2 in B minor, Op. 7. Ilya Kaler (vn); Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Stephen Gunzenhauser.

Naxos (Super budget price) (CD) 8 550649 (67 minutes: DDD).

Enterprising Naxos are venturing even further east for their soloists. Ilya Kaler is a Russian virtuoso (born in Moscow in 1963), a pupil of Leonid Kogan and a very good player, too. Paganini's once fiendish pyrotechnics hold no terrors for him, not even the whistling harmonics, and how nicely he can turn an Italianate lyrical phrase, as in the secondary theme of the first movement of the First Concerto. Then he can set off with panache into a flying staccato, bouncing his bow neatly on the strings when articulating the delicious spiccato finales of both works. Stephen Gunzenhauser launches into the opening movements with plenty of energy and aplomb and is a sympathetic accompanist throughout—he is never heavy in orchestral writing that can easily sound vapid or stodgy. How nicely the violins shape the lyrical ritornello introducing the first movement of the Second, and there is some sensitive horn playing in the Adagio.

The recordings were made in the Concert Hall of Polish Radio in Katowice. It has an ideal ambience for this music: nicely warm, not clouded, and the engineer Otto Nopp has resisted the temptation to put the microphones too close to the soloist. Thus, he consistently pleases the ear, for Kaler's intonation is above suspicion and he is naturally balanced: there is none of the scratchiness that can ruin one's pleasure in Paganinian pyrotechnics. With excellent notes (that put some of the more expensive issues by the major companies to shame) this is a superior product at super-bargain price. Kaler does not possess the larger-than-life-size personality of a Perlman, but he is by no means introverted and is a first-rate fiddler and an excellent musician. He communicates and we respond. Great value on all counts.

IM