In this release, playing works by Vaughan Williams, Moeran, Elgar, Delius, and Holst, Tasmin Little once again demonstrates her unique affinity with some of the best-loved British composers of the twentieth century. Her previous Chandos recordings of British music have been acclaimed, Gramophone writing of her performance of Elgar’s Violin Concerto: ‘For sheer beauty of tone and expressive nostalgia, Tasmin Little and Sir Andrew Davis out-Elgar their rivals.’ E.J. Moeran composed his Violin Concerto during visits to Ireland, and the work strongly reflects his love of the landscape in County Kerry. The Lark Ascending, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s much-loved romance for violin and orchestra, has long been considered a pièce de resistance for Tasmin Little, one that she is often called on to perform in concert. The disc also features three works by Elgar, all heard in arrangements for violin and orchestra by Roger Turner: Chanson de matin of 1899, its companion piece, Chanson de nuit, which features a dark-coloured main melody appropriate to its title, and Salut d’amour, one of the early works that made the composer’s name.
Please login to post a review
Reviews
“… I can heartily recommend this beautifully played and recorded new CD to you without reservation.”
Jerry Dubins – Fanfare – May/June 2014
**** - Excellent
Alberto Cantú – Music magazine (Italy) – October 2014
“British violinist Tasmin Little has been playing Vaughan Williams’ evocation of a lark in flight for most of her career … but this new recording on Chandos is something else altogether. It’s not just that Little’s tone is nigh on ideal, capable of an extraordinary ethereal sweetness, but her sense of phrasing makes the whole work into one long melody, seemingly untroubled by bar lines. Davis and Chandos support this flight with a gorgeous cushion of string sound, surpassing any other audio account that can recall… Little sweeps all before her with the most sensitive and nuanced account {Moeran –Violin Concerto] to date. Where she stands out is her ability to make Moeran’s rhapsodic work feel naturally structured yet still full of drama. Makeweights include Delius’ attractive Legende and some of Elgar’s salon favourites in orchestral guise, What’s not to like?” ****½ out of 5
Clive Paget – Limelightmagazine.com – 24 April 2014
**** (Excellent Album) **** (Exceptional Sound)
Michel Fleury – Classica magazine (France) – April 2014
Orchestral Choice
Performance ***** Recording *****
"...Little’s spacious and serene way with The Lark Ascending is both beautiful, and beautifully unfussy. State-of-the-art sensitivity and support come from Andrew Davis and the BBC Philharmonic and Chandos’s recorded sound presents a feast of clear orchestral detail."
Malcolm Hayes - BBC Music magazine - February 2014
"...A sumptuous offering all round! "
Jeremy Dibble - Gramophone magazine - January 2014
“… although Tasmin Little, and probably the BBC Philharmonic too, have probably played The Lark Ascending hundreds of times, here it still comes up fresh and spring-like, played as it is with immaculate poise and clarity and a senses of radiant stillness that gets close to the heart of Meredith’s oddly mystic pastoral - the poem is generously quoted in Anthony Burton’s model notes for this release… I would recommend all doubters and sceptics to lend an attentive ear to a performance of Moeran’s fine work that offers the best possible advocacy.”
Piers Burton-Page – International Record Review – December 2013
"...This is a lovely programme of English music beautifully played by Tasmin Little Andrew Davis and the BBC Philharmonic give gentle support on this enjoyable disc..."
Peter Spaull - Liverpool Post - 28 November 2013
"...Moeran’s Violin Concerto deserves an interpretation as sympathetic as Tasmin Little provides, especially in the poetic lyricism with which this composer’s music abounds Sir Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Philharmonia with insight to match the soloist’s ..."
Michael Kennedy - The Sunday Telegraph (Seven magazine) - 24 November 2013
Album of the Week
Tasmin Little is a terrific violinist her account of Delius’s early Legende is also treasurable, as is a short 1905 Holst piece, A Song of the Night. There isn’t a single bar here that’s characteristic of the mature Holst, but it’s still a delight however often you hear it [The Lark Ascending], it remains a ravishingly beautiful piece, and no one does it better than Ms L." *****
David Mellor - The Mail on Sunday (Event magazine) - 17 November 2013
lovely
R Willans
Media Downloads
Whenever possible we provide a high resolution CD cover image and a PDF version of the CD booklet for you to download and keep. These are found in your history if purchased and once you have logged in.