Michael Ludwig (violin), Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra/JoAnn Falletta Naxos 8.572323***

Josef Suk (1874-1935), composer and violinist (a member of the celebrated Bohemian Quartet), was also the son-in-law of Antonín Dvorak. His best-known orchestral work, the dark Asrael, was written in the wake of the loss within a 14-month period of his father-in-law and then his wife. The three works here are lighter and earlier. In fact, Dvorak described the utterly charming Fairy Taleof 1898, a suite extracted from incidental music for Josef Zeyer's play Radúz and Mahulena, as "music from heaven". Neither the Fantasy in G minor for violin and orchestra, or the Fantastic Scherzo, Op 25, are in quite the same league. JoAnn Falletta and her Buffalo players give attractive accounts of all three works.