Despite its cute cover photo, this CD is not a collection of sunny, flowery pieces for infants; to the contrary, its music is decidedly unsunny, serious, and best appreciated by grown-ups. The selections may qualify as twentieth century Romantic works, though post-Romantic is a more appropriate term for Sir Edward Elgar's ardent Sonata for violin and piano, Op. 82, and Ferruccio Busoni's turbulent Sonata in E minor, Op. 29; and quasi-Impressionistic fairly well describes Sergey Prokofiev's melancholy Five Melodies, Op. 35bis. Violinist Gerald Itzkoff and pianist Philip Amalong play these lush and emotional works with consummate skill, passionate intensity, and abundant energy, and under better recording conditions, they would have produced an enjoyable album. Unfortunately, the highly echoic sound of the Crain Residence in Cincinnati, OH, gives Itzkoff and Amalong too much room for their sound to waft, considerably distorts their dynamics, and forces the listener to reduce the volume to avoid getting a headache. In soft movements, such as the Romance of Elgar's sonata, the Molto sostenuto of Busoni's sonata, and Prokofiev's Lento, ma non troppo, the sound is tolerable; but in the faster, louder movements in all pieces, the violin seems too shrill -- especially in the squeaky octaves -- and the piano sounds far too thumping and thundering in the drafty acoustics.
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