Saint-Saëns
Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2 etc
Leia Zhu (violin); ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra/Howard Griffiths
Berlin Classics 0303539BC 61:23 mins
Clip: Saint-Saëns – Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 20, II. Andante Espressivo
This is quite a debut. British violinist Leia Zhu may already be a veteran of the concert stage at the ripe old age of 18, but this release, recorded in November 2023, is her first album. Requiring exceptional virtuosity allied to clean musical textures and utmost refinement, Saint-Saëns’s works for violin and orchestra are a test for any performer, but Zhu is comfortably up to the challenges they pose.
This initial volume of a projected complete survey features the first two concertos framed by scintillating performances of two of the composer’s best-known standalone pieces, the Introduction et rondo capriccioso and Havanaise. Zhu tears into the first concerto with relish, unafraid of allowing a bit of rasping grit in the oyster of her otherwise pure, silken tone. At barely 12 minutes long with no break between its three movements, this unusual concerto can be elusive, but Zhu is clearly inside the music, as apparent from her control of the gear changes in the central Andante espressivo.
Saint-Saëns actually wrote the second violin concerto before the first. A more conventional, Mendelssohnian work, this charming performance makes the relative rarity of this sparkling work perplexing. Zhu’s fingerwork is persistently dazzling, the opening movement’s lyrical passages exude an infectious bonhomie, while she finds a searching poetry in the slow movement. The glowing textures of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Howard Griffiths provide a warm bed of support throughout, but the focus is rightly on Zhu’s impressive start to her discography. Christopher Dingle