Thirty years divide Hungarian composer Bartók’s two violin concertos, their dramas played out with exquisite richness by Capuçon and the London Symphony Orchestra. The First Concerto is a lusciously scored expression of unrequited love for a young violinist, its opening movement sweeping and passionate. The second, final movement, meanwhile, is full of joy with snatches of Hungarian folk song. The Violin Concerto No. 2 is a different beast with its nods to Berg and Prokofiev. A strumming opening gives way to music of thunderous energy, breathtaking virtuosity and beauty, all of which the masterful Capuçon dispatches with a coolness of head but warmness of heart.
- Philharmonia Orchestra & Vladimir Ashkenazy
- Giancarlo Guerrero, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal & Ayana Tsuji
- Kremerata Baltica & Gidon Kremer
- Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Itamar Golan, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Vladimir Jurowski
- Sergiu Celibidache & Munich Philharmonic
- Ning Feng, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Carlos Miguel Prieto