Linda Brava: Violin

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
In the liner notes for some violin recital discs, we can read about the vintage of the instrument being played. On Linda Brava's debut disc for EMI, we get to read about some of the violinist's turn-ons: skiing, scuba diving, acting, and car racing. A true Renaissance woman, she has graced the pages of Playboy and appeared on TV's Baywatch, and she owns an apple cider company (which, we're told, is a top-seller in her native Finland). She also plays the violin. Sadly, her performance isn't nearly as spotless as her complexion. Joined by pianist John Lenehan, Brava performs a mixed bag of compositions--short pieces from Elgar, Fauré, Paganini, and Sibelius, to name a few. The trait these performances share is that they're played uncommonly slowly and unremarkably. She performs a passable version of Fauré's Berceuse pour violin, but on Sibelius's Rondino she sounds absolutely stiff and erratic; Ave Maria highlights Brava's poor intonation. It's a good thing she has so many other assets to fall back upon. --Jason Verlinde

Album Details
Linda Brava Is A Real Violin Talent, Intellegent, Beautiful & A Natural Star.

Tracks:

Salut D'amour (Liebesgruss), Op.12
Berceuse, Op.16
Rondino, Op.81, No.2
Ave Maria
I. Allegro Molto Ed Appassionato
II. Allegretto Espressivo Alla Romanza - Allegro Molto - Tempo I
III. Allegro Animato
Humoreske I, Op.87, No.1
Cantabile (Kompositionen Fur Gitarre Und Streichinstrumente, 1. Serie, No. 8)
Meditation (Thais)
Romance, Op.78, No.2
Marche Miniature Viennoise

Amazon.com

In the liner notes for some violin recital discs, we can read about the vintage of the instrument being played. On Linda Brava's debut disc for EMI, we get to read about some of the violinist's turn-ons: skiing, scuba diving, acting, and car racing. A true Renaissance woman, she has graced the pages of Playboy and appeared on TV's Baywatch, and she owns an apple cider company (which, we're told, is a top-seller in her native Finland). She also plays the violin. Sadly, her performance isn't nearly as spotless as her complexion. Joined by pianist John Lenehan, Brava performs a mixed bag of compositions--short pieces from Elgar, Fauré, Paganini, and Sibelius, to name a few. The trait these performances share is that they're played uncommonly slowly and unremarkably. She performs a passable version of Fauré's Berceuse pour violin, but on Sibelius's Rondino she sounds absolutely stiff and erratic; Ave Maria highlights Brava's poor intonation. It's a good thing she has so many other assets to fall back upon. --Jason Verlinde

Album Details

Linda Brava Is A Real Violin Talent, Intellegent, Beautiful & A Natural Star.

Customer Reviews:

Not just another pretty face.......2006-11-14

The assumption that no one who looks like this can actually play the violin is a seemingly sound one, but is, in this case, very unfair. I found her technique excellent and I enjoyed the selections very much. I note that Gramophone, hardly an undiscriminating source of reviews, was also very positive. So let's stop the dumb blonde jokes, please!

Really really really not good.......2006-05-23

Or in other words, really really bad. Occasionally Linda Brava's performance rises to the level of being only moderately bad, but mostly it is really bad.

Her intonation is suspect much of the time, and her bowing technique is deficient, resulting in an often scraping, uneven tone. At time, it even sounds as though her bow is skittering across the strings, which amazes me. That is elementary technique. With universally cautious tempi, it sounds almost as though she is afraid of the music, and it appears as if she did the once necessary take on each piece, called it good, and scurried out of the studio to attend to her other myriad business interests.

Clearly, these short & relatively undaunting pieces are beyond her limited technical capacities. There are no greater heights awaiting her in the world of classical music. Perhaps a crossover album or two might prolong this undeserving career.

Great CD.......2003-02-25

Not only is Linda Brava a marvelous violinist, but she is also scorchingly gorgeous, so the pictures in the liner are just an added bonus. My favorite piece on the CD is Edvard Grieg's "Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in C Minor."

A Nice Album.......2001-02-04

I bought the cd out of curiosity of linda's violin playing. i had no regrets in buying the cd. I quickly fell in love with salu't d'amour which is the first track of the cd. Among those nice pieces are Meditation by Massenet and Humoresque by Sibelius.

Not quite what I expected.......2000-07-24

I was hoping the CD would have as much life as her rock cd's. Guess I just should stick to buying those. This is my 1st venture into buying a classical CD.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Today, Tomorrow & Forever [Box set] [Original recording remastered]

Campo: Quintetto Vicento Op71; Flaherty: Quintet

Anarchy in the UK

The Improvisor

Dante's Casino

Blowing the Fuse: 27 R&B Classics That Rocked the Jukebox in 1946

Carousel [Cast Recording]

Charles Gerhardt Conducts Mozart, Schubert, Brahms and others

Amerika [CD-single] [Import]

Andre Previn: Great Pianists Of The 20th Century (Music Of Mozart, Poulenc, Shostakovich, Gershwin)

Between the Lines

Amor Es Natural [Import]

Artistas Originales de la Salsa Cubana

Try Not to Cry

On the Track