Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
Academy of St. Martin In the Fields & Nicola Benedetti
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| Name | Artist | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64 | Nicola Benedetti | -- | Work Only | View In iTunes |
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1 Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64: I. Allegro molto appassionato
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Nicola Benedetti | 13:01 | Work Only | View In iTunes | |
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2 Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64: II. Andante
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Nicola Benedetti | 8:35 | Work Only | View In iTunes | |
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3 Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64: III. Allegro non troppo - Allegro molto vivace
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Nicola Benedetti | 5:55 | $0.99 | View In iTunes | |
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4 |
Adagio in E, K. 261 | Nicola Benedetti | 6:43 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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5 |
Rondo for Violin and Orchestra in C, K. 373 | Nicola Benedetti | 5:26 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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6 |
Serenade ("Standchen" No 4 from Schwanengesang D. 957) | Nicola Benedetti | 4:07 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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7 |
Ave Maria | Nicola Benedetti | 5:01 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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8 |
From "Ayrshire" - Largo, molto rubato | Nicola Benedetti | 5:32 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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9 |
From "Ayrshire" - Like a very fast reel | Nicola Benedetti | 1:37 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| Total: 9 Songs |
Customer Reviews
Fantastic! Not that anyone agrees with me it seems
This is one of the best, easily exceeding Nicola's debut in terms of the musicality, not that that one wasn't absolutely spectacular too, but the Mendelssohn is an unarguable jewel of the Violin repertory, and Benedetti plays it spectacularly. Without question, the concerto is the highlight -- and perhaps the most satisfying -- part of the disc, but the beauty of the Schubert and Mozart pieces, both as compositions and how they are treated in Benedetti's hands, must not be overlooked. James MacMillian's 'From Ayrshire' wraps up the work as the piece which is easily second best. I'll return to 'Ayrshire' in a moment, but there are other things I want to mention. First, there is the critique that has come up in many reviews and seems totally unfounded, which is that Nicola Benedetti is less of the artist that she is made out to be, and owes her success to her good looks. I won't lie, she is extremely good looking, and does have a -- to paraphrase the liner notes of her debut -- "marketable image", yet she is definetly every bit as good a Violinist as she is made out to be in the media. There are few artists of her form who I have heard who have such remarkable balance between the sensual, feeling aspect of music and the technical aspect. Yes, she is young, and may not be quite as good as, say, Mutter, but surely an artist of her stature, combined with her age, will only serve to improve her, and I daresay that will undeniably happen. Her artistic mindset seems already increadibly mature and both her recordings show she is going far already. I must also comment on another aspect of Benedetti's which I find remarkable, which is her ear for great music. Both concertos for both albums (the Szymanowski for the first, Mendelssohn for the second) are dazzling peicies of music, and she does them justice. The smaller materials, such as the Massenet 'Meditation' and the Scubert 'Ave Maria' were equally mesmerizing, as were the new works composed for her by Tavener and MacMillan. On that note, I return now to 'From Ayrshire'. As indicated in the first paragraph, I can only praise MacMillan's composing talent, and that is especially obvious in the first movement, which lives up to the promise that it conjures up images of the Scottish Highlands -- from which both he and Benedetti hail -- of a rather Burns-ian nature. The second movement, however, leaves a little bit to be desired. After reading articles and reviews about it, it seemed that the movement had been inspired by Scottish folk fiddling, which would have produced some wonderful idioms for the solo Violin. These idioms, however, seemed to be missing, and there was nothing to suggest the folk-base, and while the coda was undeniably artistic, it was a bit too abrupt and did not present a very satisfying sense of conclusion.
Don't listen to the second review!
Every review section has its very own haughty killjoy. I'm not going to name names, but "Operatic_Ingenue" has no idea what he is talking about...Oops--did I let that slip? I checked out all the other reviews that this person has made for other albums, and about 95% of them he's given 1-2 stars. It seems he can't find anything better to do with his time than defame, to the best of his ability, as many artists as he can; and, unfortunately for the rest of us, Nicola Benedetti, so obviously a remarkable violinist, has not escaped his scourging wrath. There's no time here to explore the psychology behind this one, but don't let his arrogance taint your impression of this beautiful music. Benedetti expresses a spiritual maturity within her playing like no other musician I've seen in a long time, and her fame as a musician most certainly does not come from the pushing of "the corrupt classical music industry." If there is anything here that is corrupt and that lacks integrity, it's the elitist remarks of Operatic_Ingenue. Enjoy! It's truly amazing!
Beautiful!
I love Mendelssohn's violin concerto in e. My favorite movement is probably the third one :P I loved the album. Very very pretty. Excellent if you like harmonics and enjoy classical music.
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