Though the Scottish Fantasy, with its wealth of traditional melodies, ripely presented, is firmly based in the repertory, most of Bruch's other concertante works for violin are largely unknown. Here's one of the most ambitious, the Serenade, dating from 1900, 20 years after the Fantasy. Its breadth and weight belies the lightweight title. It's a warm and fluent work in Bruch's high-Romantic style, built on clearly defined themes that lack only the last degree of memorability of the Fantasy. The third of the four movements, a dreamy, lyrical Notturno, comes nearest to matching the Fantasy's natural glow, but the other movements have striking moments, too. Bruch had the idea of putting this substantial work among his numbered concertos but changed his mind.
Maxim Fedotov gives a warm, thrusting performance of both the Serenade and the Fantasy.
He may be a little short on the mystery and tenderness, but his bravura playing, helped by fullblooded accompaniment from Dmitry Yablonsky, makes the results consistently compelling.