Elgar: Violin Concerto album review – Vilde Frang’s exceptional performance makes this one of the finest to appear on disc

Elgar: Violin Concerto album review – Vilde Frang’s exceptional performance makes this one of the finest to appear on disc

Vilde Frang/Deutsches S-O Berlin/Ticciati
(Warner Classics)
In a startling, authoritative performance of Elgar’s demanding masterpiece, the Norwegian violinist and Robin Ticciati are utterly convincing

Beginning with the historic version that the 15-year-old Yehudi Menuhin made with the composer himself conducting in 1931, the truly outstanding recordings of Elgar’s Violin Concerto can still be counted on the fingers of one hand. It’s a measure of the startling quality of this performance by the Norwegian Vilde Frang with Robin Ticciati and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin that it unquestionably deserves a place among that elite.

The tone for Frang’s performance is set at the very start of the concerto, before she has played a note. Ticciati propels the opening orchestral tutti with real urgency, immediately dispelling any idea that would emphasise the score’s dreamier aspects; when she enters, Frang’s muscularity confirms that approach.

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