Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto; Nielson: Violin Concerto EMI Classics ****

The Viennese critic Eduard Hanslick panned Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in 1881, even suggesting that its finale "transfers us to a brutal and wretched jollity of a Russian holiday. We see plainly the savage vulgar faces, we hear curses, we smell vodka". Ouch! Perhaps he needed to hear someone like Vilde Frang play it, with an avoidance of vulgarity, a virtuosity that hides effort, and an astute understanding of how much expressive pressure it can reasonably bear. Nielsen's Violin Concerto of 1911 is only now in the process of winning the popularity the composer wanted (his goal was for it to be "eventful, popular, and brilliant without being superficial"), and Frang handles its peculiarities, including elements of the baroque, in a way that eschews unnecessary romanticisation. Refreshing. See url.ie/57cs