Fantasie

For many, Ernst Krenek, who spanned almost all of the last century, living from 1900 to 1991, is more of a neglected name than a composer to whom they turn for profound, stimulating and beautiful music……..Here is exciting and technically brilliant playing on a new CD that both helps to illustrate Krenek's place in the pantheon. It draws the listener in; it invites them to look more deeply……………

Mark Sealey @ Classical.Net

Schubert's 'Wanderer Fantasy' and Schumann's 'Fantasie' are two highly remarkable works: while musically embodying the romantic spirit of the age in their unconventional structures and lyrically imaginative styles, they also act as self-portraits to their creators through the evocation of their creative process. In these new orchestrations by Joseph James, the familiar beauty of the works is rekindled in exciting and fresh interpretations performed by the illustrious English Chamber Orchestra alongside concertante solos from members of the Schubert Ensemble.

This must surely be among the boldest, sweetest, most sensual and most provocatively phrased accounts of Brahms’s Violin Concerto ever recorded. And I can tell you with some confidence, after having recently surveyed a whole host of ‘historic’ violinists playing the same work, that not one of them waives the rules with as much nerve as Anne-Sophie Mutter does here.