There are two violinists at work on this recording, and it doesn’t take anything away from Vilde Frang’s exhilarating performance to say so. In Beethoven’s concerto there is nothing remotely laboured about her playing, yet her light touch and unfailingly sweet tone is the vehicle for a satisfyingly large-scale interpretation. In the Stravinsky that sweetness acquires a swagger and firmness of purpose that yields to reveal something dark and deeply felt in the slow movement. In both works, her playing is constantly alive to the music’s swirling undercurrents of electric energy.
