RECORDING OF THE MONTH RECORDING OF THE MONTH BARGAIN OF THE MONTH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS A London Symphony Oboe Concerto £11 post free World-wide RACHMANINOV Elegy, Preludes, Piano concerto 3 £12 post free World-wide CHAUSSON, DEBUSSY RACHMANINOV TRios 2CDs £16 post free World-wide

BUY NOW  AmazonUK   AmazonUS

Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (1844) [24:31]. Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Adagio in E, K261 (1776) [4:43]. Rondo in C, K373 (1781) [5:26]. Franz Peter SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Serenade (Leise flehen meine Lieder, D957, arr. Stephens) [4:07]. Ave Maria, D839 (arr. Wilhelmj/Heifetz) [5:01]. James MacMILLAN (b. 1959) From Ayrshirea [7:09] Nicola Benedetti (violin). Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields/aJames MacMillan rec. Abbey Rd Studios, 26-27 January 2006. DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 476 315-9 [56:36]

The publicity machine keeps on turning for Nicola Benedetti. Eight photos in the booklet and one on the back cover, all projecting a glamorous persona - versus one tiny pic of MacMillan. All speak of Benedetti as Deutsche Grammophon’s great violinistic hope of the younger generation. Taking on the much-recorded Mendelssohn is in one sense brave. But this is music that suits youth perfectly, so perhaps it is not so brave after all. Certainly there is an impetuosity here that works well enough, but at no point does this actually sound like great music. One can admire the sweet-toned beginning and, indeed, Benedetti’s credo to leave the music alone, but in the final analysis there should be more to it than this. Her cadenza sums it up – very good, very clean, very unmemorable. It is true there is some passion to the Andante and that the finale flits between the scampering and the suave. There is even drama near the end. But taken as a whole this is merely acceptable. There are so many recordings to choose from – Heifetz, Milstein, Campoli to name the first three that spring to mind – that the rest of the CD had better offer something good. The two Mozart offerings form a convincing Adagio-Rondo pairing. The Adagio emerges as some sort of Mozartian cooling breeze after the hectic finale of the Mendelssohn, although Benedetti’s legato is not perfect, and neither is her purity of tone of the angelic variety. The charming Rondo that follows on nicely is better. The Schubert Serenade seems to have been recorded on the bass-heavy side at the beginning. Benedetti sounds almost like she is spinning a gypsy tune – it is a pity the orchestral reply is aural confectionery. But that is nothing on the Ave Maria. Working with a throaty tone to begin with, this turns into pure syrup. Purists will give up at this point, aghast. I have to admit I heard it through because I had to. James MacMillan is one of the UK’s most interesting composers. From Ayrshire is very, very beautiful as well as highly evocative. There are some typical MacMillan ‘keening’ figures on the solo violin in the part; the second part is a reel, brought off with panache by all concerned. Only the MacMillan seems to justify this release. There is no doubting Benedetti’s talent – if only she had been left to develop more before being given all this exposure. Colin Clarke   Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.