Beethoven, Stravinsky: Violin Concertos

by Vilde Frang, Pekka Kuusisto

Overview

Violinist Vilde Frang has been on a career upswing, but she enters a highly crowded field when it comes to Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61. Nevertheless, this recording merits strong consideration for listeners' time and money. First is the unusual pairing on the program; Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in D major of 1931 is not a commonly played work, and it makes an interesting foil for the Beethoven. Where Beethoven did so much to define the role of the soloist in the 19th century concerto, Stravinsky largely folds the soloist back into the ensemble, treating her or him separately only for specific effect. It is an intriguing neoclassic work that is quite accessible and ought to be featured on orchestral programs more often. Better still is the obvious rapport between Frang and conductor Pekka Kuusisto. Kuusisto is a violinist himself, temporarily sidelined by a hand injury, and he molds the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen into a flexible instrument that wraps itself around a very lively performance from Frang. In the first movement of the Beethoven, the violinist uses an unusual cadenza adapted from Beethoven's own version of the concerto for piano and orchestra, and in the second movement, she inserts an unusually long cadenza at the end, after the big transitional chords in the orchestra. These unexpected events are confidently handled by Kuusisto and the orchestra. Overall, this is an entirely fresh release from a very exciting young violinist, and its appearance on classical best-seller lists in the autumn of 2022 is not surprising in the least. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	01/13/2023
Label:	Warner Classics
UPC:	0190296677403
Rank:	93447

Tracks

1. Violin Concerto in D major Op. 61~I. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Violin Concerto in D major Op. 61~II. Larghetto -
3. Violin Concerto in D major Op. 61~III. Rondo: Allegro
4. Violin Concerto in D major~I. Toccata
5. Violin Concerto in D major~II. Aria I
6. Violin Concerto in D major~III. Aria II
7. Violin Concerto in D major~IV. Capriccio

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Vilde Frang   Primary Artist,Violin
Pekka Kuusisto   Primary Artist,Conductor
Ludwig van Beethoven   Cadenza
Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen   Orchestra

Technical Credits

Ludwig van Beethoven   Composer
Igor Stravinsky   Composer
Paul Mitchell   Design
Daniel Fesquet   Liner Note Translation
Marco Borggreve   Photography
Rene Moeller   Engineer
Alain Lanceron   Executive Producer
Stefanie Schlatt   Liner Note Translation
Kaapo Kamu   Photography
Julian Schwenkner   Post Production Engineer
Vilde Frang   Post Production,Liner Notes
Jorn Pedersen   Producer
Julia Baier   Photography
Pekka Kuusisto   Liner Notes