Nicola Benedetti Plays Szymanowski, Chausson, Saint-Saëns (2006)

×

Nicola Benedetti Plays Szymanowski, Chausson, Saint-Saëns (2006)

Close

By any reckoning this is a most impressive debut recording. Nicola Benedetti, since becoming BBC Young Artist of the Year last May, has won a major contract with DG. Born in Scotland of Italian stock, she studied at the Menuhin School before deciding at 15— against advice — to study on her own and then with a new teacher, Maciej Rakowski. Her firmness has certainly paid off. At 17 she displays in each of these items the temperament, concentration and imagination of a great artist in the making, quite apart from her virtuoso technique. The centrepiece is the Szymanowski First Violin Concerto, the work she played in the final of the BBC competition, and the passion of her performance is remarkable, even suggesting a parallel with the young du Pre. Daniel Harding draws intense playing from the LSO and the impact of the performance is heightened by the relatively close balance of soloist and orchestra, hitting home very hard in the exotic climaxes.

1. Concerto for Violin no 1, Op. 35 by Karol Szymanowski
Performer: Nicola Benedetti (Violin)
Conductor: Daniel Harding
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1916; Poland
Venue: Walthamstow Town Hall, London, England
Length: 26 Minutes 59 Secs.

2. Havanaise for Violin and Orchestra in E major, Op. 83 by Camille Saint-Saëns
Performer: Nicola Benedetti (Violin)
Conductor: Daniel Harding
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1887; France
Venue: Walthamstow Town Hall, London, England
Length: 10 Minutes 18 Secs.

3. Poème for Violin and Orchestra in E flat major, Op. 25 by Ernest Chausson
Performer: Nicola Benedetti (Violin)
Conductor: Daniel Harding
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896; France
Venue: Walthamstow Town Hall, London, England
Length: 16 Minutes 47 Secs.

4. Thaïs: Meditation by Jules Massenet
Performer: Nicola Benedetti (Violin)
Conductor: Daniel Harding
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1894; France
Venue: Walthamstow Town Hall, London, England
Length: 5 Minutes 37 Secs.
Notes: This track consists of the orchestral part only, intended to accompany the customer's own rendition of this work.

5. Songs (5), Op. 105: no 1, Wie Melodien zieht es mir by Johannes Brahms
Performer: Nicola Benedetti (Violin)
Conductor: Daniel Harding
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1886; Austria
Venue: Walthamstow Town Hall, London, England
Length: 3 Minutes 20 Secs.
Notes: Arrangers: Julian Reynolds; Jascha Heifetz.

6. Fragment for the Virgin by John Tavener
Performer: Nicola Benedetti (Violin)
Conductor: Daniel Harding
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 2004; England
Venue: Walthamstow Town Hall, London, England
Length: 4 Minutes 30 Secs.