Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra are shortly embarking on a European tour marking the last weeks of Gražinytė-Tyla’s tenure as their principal guest conductor. Four of the ten concerts will feature the Norwegian Vilde Frang in Elgar’s Violin Concerto: this performance at St David’s Hall suggested that they will be remarkable occasions. Such richly expressive music-making evoked the CBSO’s long tradition of Elgar, the alchemy of soloist and players implicit.
It is five years since Frang first played the concerto with these forces: what has changed since then is her instrument. She now plays a Guarneri del Gesù of a similar vintage to that on which Fritz Kreisler – at whose behest Elgar wrote the work – gave the 1910 premiere. Not only did Frang deal with its virtuoso demands as though they barely existed, but her extraordinarily beautiful tone – not just on the lower strings but in the refulgent glow right to the top – seemed to honour the source of Elgar’s inspiration with a startling immediacy.
