Japanese violinist Ayana Tsuji, winner of the 2016 Montreal International Music Competition, is in superb form here. The Saint-Saëns Introduction et rondo capriccioso has buckets of fantasy and Tsuji has the technique to spin it off effortlessly. Stravinsky’s Duo Concertante also plays to her strengths and shows off her fine Vuillaume violin. As accomplished as those two pieces with piano are, they hardly prepare you for Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, which is wonderfully controlled yet very fresh in approach—Tsuji’s terrifically mature playing embraces high drama as well as an ability to set a mood within a few seconds.
- Pierre Amoyal, Charles Dutoit & Orchestre National de France
- Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra & Kyung-Wha Chung
- Lisa Batiashvili, Chamber Orchestra of Europe & Yannick Nézet-Séguin
- Jiyoon Lee, Odense Symphony Orchestra & Kristiina Poska
- Christian Tetzlaff, The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra & Hannu Lintu
- Tobias Feldmann, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège & Jean-Jacques Kantorow