Gil Shaham/Orli Shaham
Anything wrong with easy classical listening? Not at all. The talented, showy violin soloist Gil Shaham (a few critics have emphasized the "ham"), 25, and his pianist sister Orli, 21, here perform pieces by Antonín Dvo?ák (1841-1904), several of which the Czech composer wrote for his own son and daughter to play. Included are a traditional, characteristically melodic Sonata op. 57, four violin-friendly Romantic Pieces op. 75 and the mature but folk-songy Sonatina op. 100, whose slow movement is based on a Native American tune Dvo?ák heard during his brief stay in America. A recent joint tour—a first for the Shahams—and considerable attention from the non-classical press may have helped put this CD up on the charts with David Helfgott and all those tenors, but the brother-and-sister act is no mere gimmick. This is a lovely, lively recording. (Deutsche Grammophon)
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