This is a wonderfully varied collection of short pieces from traditional tunes, popular violin favourites, arrangements of piano works (Chopin, Satie), Gershwin, Joni Mitchell to finally a piece written by the man himself.
Nigel Kennedy brings something new and special to each of these pieces. He plays the Meditation from Thais as my heart would play it! I confess that when I saw 'Danny Boy' and 'Ave Maria' on the list I thought 'Oh no!', but had to hear these only once before my reaction changed dramatically to a positive. What beautiful pieces these are!
The amazing virtuosity of his playing of The Flight of the Bumble Bee, Banjo and Fiddle etc is much, much more than 'just' that. He adds feeling and spirit from the heart of the music and yet he never gets in the way. Nigel Kennedy's own composition, Melody in the Wind, is a lovely, wistful, jazzy, piece.
He makes me hear things afresh, makes me really listen! I thought this might be a good background listening CD. Forget it! There's something about Nigel Kennedy's playing that makes me give him full attention and this CD is no exception.