Music Review: Deviations Project

Violinist Oliver Lewis performs with producer Dave Williams on this CD, an homage to some of classical music’s most popular pieces. Lewis, once a child prodigy, plays with a beautiful tone and expressive bowing. This is an excellent CD to relax to. It could also serve as an introduction to classical music to those listeners more comfortable with techno. Lewis is clearly a very talented musician: the tonality and bowing convey emotion and this is not something that can be produced into a classical recording, unlike in other types of music.

I have to admit: I am a classical music purist. My first thoughts upon reading the package insert were cringe-inducing memories of the disco era’s A Fifth of Beethoven by Walter Murphy. Here, however, the emphasis is on the violin and the music, and although the electronics are an integral part of the compositions, it is the violin that retains the spotlight. With repeated listening, I grew to enjoy its compositions more and more.

The pieces range from classical to more recent pop pieces by composers such as Mike Oldfield and Jean-Michel Jarre. Deviations (based on The 24th Caprice by Paganini) allows Oliver to show off his virtuosity. His bowing, in particular, is fluid and spot-on. Medication (based on Meditation by Jules Masinet) is particularly passionate. The Car Men (based on Bizet’s Carmen) demonstrates the dexterity that earned him the world’s record for the fastest performance of Flight of the Bumblebee. Les Belles, based on Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, is particularly beautiful.

Dave Williams, who previously toured with John Deacon, the bassist of Queen, composed Tocata in Fog, She Too, and Nuclear, arranged all of the music, and produced the CD. The two also collaborated on the stage show Spirit of the Dance.

Deviations Project has a both a home page and a MySpace page.

Article Author: gette

Georgette Nicolaides is a writer, musician, and visual artist. She plays noisy violin in the ambient/psychedelic project Atlantic Drone and is currently reading about eight different books. &#@%$ ADD! …

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