Elgar
Violin Concerto etc
Vilde Frang (violin); Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Robin Ticciati
Warner Classics 2173240942 54:36 mins
Clip: Elgar: Violin Concerto in B Minor - I. Allegro (Vilde Frang; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Robin Ticciati)
Menuhin, Heifetz, Campoli, Haendel, Perlman, Zukerman, Chung et al: the list of violinists born outside England who have successfully recorded Elgar's Violin Concerto is both long and highly distinguished. The Norwegian Vilde Frang now adds to their number, posting a new version which stands comparison with the best.
Frang’s initial entry is immediately soulful and introspective, intently tuning in to Robin Ticciati’s compelling account of the long orchestral introduction. Her opening movement tingles with the nervous febrility which is never far from the surface of Elgar’s music.
The flashing arpeggios and fevered multi-stopping ascents are more than technical fripperies: Frang uses them for nuanced emotional commentary, charting a contoured landscape of disquietude in remarkable detail.
The slow movement is filled with beautiful playing, seamlessly modulated from ripeness (with measured vibrato) in the lower strings, to a leaner, supple approach in the upper registers. Crucially, Frang never wallows – some of the unease from the opening movement lingers, but it’s not allowed to suffocate the buoyancy Frang finds in Elgar’s lyrical writing.
Frang’s finale is virtuosic without ever being showy. Everything has expressive purpose, from flickering trills to flying splinters of spiccato. The famous accompanied cadenza is suffused by Frang with half-sweet, half-haunted memories and a sense of impenetrable enigma, the high notes and harmonics sweetly sung with perfect intonation. Anyone interested in Elgar, or in acutely insightful violin playing, should hear it. Terry Blain