[TR24][OF] Previn, Brahms, Gershwin, Kreisler, Faure - Tango Song and Dance - Anne-Sophie Mutter, Andre Previn, Lambert Orkis - 2003/2012 (Classical)

André Previn (b.1929)
Tango Song And Dance (Dedicated To Anne-Sophie Mutter)
01 I Tango, Passionately
02 II Song, Simply
03 III Dance, Jazz Feeling
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
21 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1
04 No. 1 In G Minor. Allegro Molto
05 No. 6 In B Flat Major. Vivace
06 No. 7 In A Major. Allegretto
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Porgy And Bess
07 Summertime
08 It Ain't Necessarily So
09 Bess, You Is My Woman Now
10 My Man's Gone Now
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
11 Schön Rosmarin
12 Caprice Viennois Op. 2
13 Liebesleid
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Sonata For Violin And Piano No. 1 In A Major Op. 13
14 I Allegro Molto
15 II Andante
16 III Allegro Vivo
17 IV Allegro Quasi Presto

Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
André Previn, piano
Lambert Orkis, piano

Anyone would assume from the title Tango Song and Dance that this album contains performances of Piazzolla and friends, representing an effort on the part of Anne-Sophie Mutter to cash in on the recent tango craze. Actually, the only tango-related piece here, the title composition by Mutter's husband André Previn, was written in 1997 before that trend really got started in classical music. Instead, Tango Song and Dance offers a collection of dance-inflected pieces that diverges from Mutter's usual serious fare but benefits equally from her commanding musical personality. These performances are great fun and, for the most part, will take you back to the days of the star virtuoso. Previn joins Mutter on piano for his own work, and their complementarity -- he is suave, she intense -- is delightful. The work sounds not like Piazzolla but like Ravel composing a tango; its final movement is in a 7/8 time that cleverly trips up the tango feel. Some reviewers have reproached the liberties Mutter takes with the Joseph Joachim transcriptions of three Brahms Hungarian Dances, but it's hard to imagine that Joachim, in Brahms' own time, would have done any less. Only in a group of selections from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess does Mutter seem out of her element; she executes the Jascha Heifetz arrangements flawlessly, but despite former jazzman Previn's presence, it ain't got that swing. Mutter's usual sideman Lambert Orkis returns to the keyboard for three Fritz Kreisler encores, however (Previn plays only on the Gershwin and his own piece), and Mutter takes command once again with swooping, sentiment-drenched thrills. Fauré's Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 13, a tuneful piece with a whiff of the music hall, makes an unexpected but satisfying conclusion. In all, a wonderful outing for a great artist who deserved to lighten up.