Diana Netchaeva

Few would dispute that the violin is the king of instruments. It is able to call forth emotions and moods that very few other instruments can. In the hands of a master, it has the power to change one's perceptions. Diana Netchaeva is such a master. A graduate of Russia's Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, she has a tremendous list of accolades from the classical music world. But could she transfer her great skill with the violin to the more contemporary world of rock music?

Happily, the answer is yes. With Violin On Fire, this very talented lady tackles a wide variety of sounds, with the result generally being labeled as "progressive rock" or "art rock". There are some shaky moments here and there and the release runs a little too long for its own good, but there are many pleasant moments here and even some truly transcendent ones.

The beginning track "Thunder" starts out in a jarring fashion, with some bouncy electro-pop that by itself seems rather trite. But once the sweet sounds of Ms. Netchaeva's violin enters the picture, the result is more palatable. Even when the underlying music is on the generic side, as it is here, the violin is always a pleasure to listen to, as the notes smoothly flow together without a seam. Diana's technique is playful and light, not bombastic and overbearing. Though there are moments when she shows real fire, she never beats you over the head with technical blood and thunder.

The electronic elements remain throughout the album and classical purists may stick their nose up at them, but there are some really interesting touches. "No Love" integrates the electronics more skillfully than "Thunder", but with "Rage", the intensity really ramps up. It's one of the most electrifying moments on the disc. "Light Magic" is reminiscent of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and shows a more complex style of play...it is true progressive rock with Diana burning up the violin strings.

The album then goes into a bit of a lull as the title track and especially "Drum Line" are on the distinctly more average side. Diana's playing is fine, but "Drum Line" especially just doesn't seem to be up to the quality levels of some of the other material. A fine case in point is "East and West", one of the absolute high points, where Ms. Netchaeva's catchy and sprightly violin riffs remind me of the great Stephane Grapelli. This song also has a powerful burst of almost heavy metal guitar in it that gives it a great kick. Not one for the purists again, but a killer song nonetheless.

The aptly titled "Blues" shows a smokier side to the violin, which interacts with some grinding guitar. "Earth Pain", though, is the highlight of Violin On Fire...a real prog rock epic where Diana cuts loose with emotional playing. The song starts in a melancholy, restrained fashion and the violin fairly weeps along with the music. The track builds in intensity and again adds thunderous heavy guitar and powerful keys, reaching a great climax. This is the peak of Diana's journey into rock and the album doesn't reach this height again.

From there, we get a respectable "I'm Getting Stronger" and a delightful romp called "Country", where more Grapelli-esque, playful violin gets mixed with a thumping techno beat. It sounds odd but works beautifully. The last two cuts, "Workshop" and "Aggressive", sound like filler and "Aggressive" in particular doesn't live up to its name and ends the album on a rather weak note. Diana's playing again is fine here but the underlying music doesn't match up.

At the end of the day, Violin On Fire is a strong and appealing album that shows it is definitely possible for classical violin to make the jump to more modern sounds. A couple of filler tracks like "Drum Line" and "Aggressive" should have been pruned, but I really recommend this album to lovers of quality art/progressive rock. - Mike Korn