Elgar: Violin Concerto (2020)

performed by Nicola Benedetti (violin), Petr Limonov (piano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski (conductor)
composed by Edward Elgar

This is a big outing for violinist Nicola Benedetti: the Elgar Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61, is a difficult work both technically and interpretively, and although it has been popular on recordings since the first one appeared in 1929, it is not exactly a crowd-pleaser; Benedetti scores here with a reading that steers a middle path between some well-established approaches. The Elgar concerto has an unusually wide range of interpretations of the tempo markings, with total timings clocking in at anywhere from 42 minutes ... Read More

This is a big outing for violinist Nicola Benedetti: the Elgar Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61, is a difficult work both technically and interpretively, and although it has been popular on recordings since the first one appeared in 1929, it is not exactly a crowd-pleaser; Benedetti scores here with a reading that steers a middle path between some well-established approaches. The Elgar concerto has an unusually wide range of interpretations of the tempo markings, with total timings clocking in at anywhere from 42 minutes (Jascha Heifetz) to 54 minutes (Nigel Kennedy, in one of the favored recordings of the last two decades of the 20th century). Benedetti comes in just shy of 47 minutes, and she catches the liquid speed of Heifetz while leaving room for the "awfully emotional, too emotional" quality Elgar himself described of the work. Her entrance in the first movement doesn't have quite the magnetic lyricism of Menuhin's, but her turns through the music's double stops and general veering quality... Read Less