Batiashvili Sibelius Lindberg Violin Concertos

Sibelius ranks as one of the most important and strikingly original symphonic composers of the twentieth century. His Violin Concerto, a wonderful synthesis of technical brilliance and poignant, deeply-felt melody, is one of the greatest concertos in the repertoire. It is coupled on this disc with the rarely recorded Violin Concerto No. 1, by Christian Sinding, widely remembered as the composer of The Rustle of Spring.

What immediately strikes the potential buyer about this British release is the unusual program: the Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, of Jean Sibelius is paired not with Tchaikovsky or Beethoven or any of its other usual partners, but with the Violin Concerto "Concentric Paths" by Thomas Adès, a work that has been recorded only once before. Rising German-Italian violinist Augustin Hadelich addresses the question in his own notes, writing that "CD programs that I like the most are ones where the pieces are connected, but in a subtle way."

Janine Jansen releases her first concerto album in nine years, pairing the iconic Violin Concertos of Sibelius & Prokofiev. Janine is joined by Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra for this album, forming the ultimate classical dream team. “The highlight of the program was the Sibelius Violin Concerto, in the hands of the Dutch Janine Jansen… Jansen and Mäkelä recorded this concert together last summer… and it promises to be a true reference, based on what was heard in Oslo.” - Platea

Norwegian-born violinist Vilde Frang makes her solo recording debut with Prokofiev's first Violin Concerto and Sibelius' Violin Concerto, plus three of the Finnish composer's Humoresques for violin and piano. With her sweet tone, fluent technique, and soulful interpretations, Frang's performances can stand comparison to many of the great recorded performances of the past. She digs in deep in Sibelius' outer movements and dispatches their manifold difficulties with apparent ease.

Joshua Bell has returned to the mainstream repertoire from his recent successful excursions into film (The Red Violin) and bluegrass-crossover (Short Trip Home), and his playing, always brilliant, and arresting, has reached a new peak. Despite the booklet's claim to the contrary, these two concertos have nothing in common except fiendishly difficult bravura solo parts; rather, they represent a perfectly valid pairing of opposites. Bell makes the most of the contrasts, bringing out each work's idiomatic character.

For most listeners, the great thing here will be the 1952 recording of Sibelius' Violin Concerto with soloist Camilla Wicks accompanied by Sixten Ehrling leading the Stockholm Radio Symphony. An American born in Long Beach, CA, of Norwegian stock, the young Wicks was so deeply, passionately, and completely under the skin of the concerto that a more sympathetic and exciting performance of the work is hard to imagine.

With the violin concertos by Jean Sibelius and Igor Stravinsky, Zhi-Jong Wang and the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Sanderling, dedicate themselves to two works from the beginning of the 20th century. Although the two works were composed only thirty years apart from each other, they could not be any more contrasting: minor against major, dark, mystical and introverted against exciting, suspenseful and sometimes ironic. And yet, in the contrasts of these two concertos, the virtuoso and inspiring interpretation of the Chinese violinist reveals something amazingly unifying. Recorded at Abbey Road, July 2017.