Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto, premiered in 1910 by Fritz Kreisler, is quite a feat of endurance for the player at around 50 minutes in length. This reading by Renaud Capuçon -- said to be the first French violinist to record the work -- along with Simon Rattle leading the London Symphony Orchestra, tops the 50-minute mark thanks to a main feature of Capuçon's playing: he is deliberate and reflective, and at many points in the score, he takes his time. Listen to the violin entrance in the first movement for an idea. ...
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Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto, premiered in 1910 by Fritz Kreisler, is quite a feat of endurance for the player at around 50 minutes in length. This reading by Renaud Capuçon -- said to be the first French violinist to record the work -- along with Simon Rattle leading the London Symphony Orchestra, tops the 50-minute mark thanks to a main feature of Capuçon's playing: he is deliberate and reflective, and at many points in the score, he takes his time. Listen to the violin entrance in the first movement for an idea. Overall, Capuçon is thoughtful and often lyrical, avoiding the general tendency to regard the concerto as having a modern kind of nervousness brought on by romantic complications in Elgar's life. Rattle is also an important contributor, catching the need for the orchestra to balance the violin's effusions in this score in which violin and orchestra are deeply intertwined. At the beginning, he establishes a mood of urgency, and Capuçon can set himself off from this. With a flat-out gorgeous...
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