Daugherty: Fire and Blood; Flamingo; Ladder to the Moon

Alexandre da Costa (violin), Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal/Pedro Halffter Warner Classics 2564 67195-7***

The inspiration behind these three pieces is nothing if not diverse. The violin concerto, Fire and Blood(2003), a Detroit Symphony Orchestra commission, was sparked by Diego Rivera's car industry murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Flamingo(1991) comes from the memory of a 1962 family holiday when the young Daugherty saw his first pink flamingos – the closeness of the birds' name to flamenco prompting the use of two solo tambourines. And Ladder to the Moon(2006) for violin and chamber ensemble was inspired by the urban landscapes of Georgia O'Keeffe. Daugherty is an eclectic, and Fire and Bloodin particular sounds like a reworking/ updating of any number of favourite gestures from the history of violin writing. The performances fully match the peppiness of the music. See url.ie/d6q8