HEINO ELLER (1887-1970): Violin Concerto in B Minor, Fantasy in G Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Symphonic Legend (World Premiere Recording), Symphony No. 2 (unfinished).

Description: The 24-minute Symphonic Legend (1923; rev. 1938) is a real find: a work of fantastic colors in ten segments that sounds like a ballet score that came out of the same shop as Ravel and Roussel with hints of Russian Romanticism and of Scriabin along the way. Killed by the poisonous Soviet atmosphere of the Zhdanov period, the 14-minute first movement is all that Eller wrote of his second symphony (1947-48) but it’s a knock-out, dramatic, energetic and uneasy with a few calmer lyrical moments, the only other recording a Melodiya LP from 1984. The 23-minute violin concerto (1933-34, rev. 1937 and 1964 - Eller was an inveterate reviser!) had a 1999 CD issue on Antes Edition of 1980s Estonian Radio recordings; its genial combination of neo-classical and romantic elements is very appealing. The little six-minute Fantasy is a 1964 orchestration of a 1916 violin-and-piano piece. Baiba Skride (violin), Estonian National Symphony Orchestra; Olari Elts.