Wieniawski: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Good violin music and good music are not always the same thing, and Wieniawski's violin works are a case in point.  Though extremely effectively written for the soloists, in most other departments--orchestration, melodic interest, formal ingenuity--they remain distinctly second-rate, which may be why they seem to have fallen out of favor recently.  Given great fiddling, however, they can be made to sound like great music, and Gil Shaham is unquestionably a great fiddler.  He glides through the quick music with the ease of an Olympic bobsled champion, and injects real soul into Wieniawski's meditative moments.  Sarasate's works offer many of the same strengths and weaknesses as Wieniawski's, and Shaham dispatches the music's numerous technical challenges with similar boldness and zest.  There's always room in the catalog for playing that is this accomplished.--David Hurwitz