Walton & Barber: Violin Concertos & Works for Strings Thomas Bowes, Malmö Opera Orchestra & Joseph Swensen

• William Walton (1902 - 1983): Concerto for Violin and Orchestra:
• 1 Walton: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra: I. Andante tranquillo 11:06
• 2 Walton: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra: II. Presto capriccioso alla napolitana - Trio (Canzonetta) 06:20
• 3 Walton: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra: III. Vivace 13:08
• Two Pieces for Strings from Henry V:
• 4 Walton: Two Pieces for Strings from Henry V: I. Passacaglia: Death of Falstaff 03:08
• 5 Walton: Two Pieces for Strings from Henry V: II. Touch Her Soft Lips and Part 01:27
• Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981): Concerto for Violin and Orchestra op. 14:
• 6 Barber: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra op. 14: I. Allegro 09:43
• 7 Barber: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra op. 14: II. Andante 08:26
• 8 Barber: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra op. 14: III. Presto in moto perpetuo 03:44
• Adagio for String op. 11:
• 9 Barber: Adagio for String op. 11 08:53
• Total Runtime 01:05:55

Info for Walton & Barber: Violin Concertos & Works for Strings

Walton’s Violin Concerto was composed during a stay at the stunning Villa Cimbrone on Italy’s Amalfi coast, and reflects this environment in different ways – some more apparent than others (the 2nd movement is based on a ‘tarantella’, after Walton suffered a tarantula bite whilst there). The piece has endured as one of his most popular works, and is contrasted here by Barber’s Violin Concerto and famous Adagio for Strings.

Making his debut recording as a soloist on Signum, Thomas Bowes has built a firm reputation as an orchestral leader, soloist and chamber musician. He has also concert-mastered many film scores – the most recent credit being for “The King’s Speech.” The Malmö Opera Orchestra and conductor Joseph Swensen join him for this recording.”

“A masterly account … with Bowes essaying flickering rhapsodic moments, assailed by striking orchestral flourishes” – The Independent

“Bowes yields to none of the Walton’s great interpreters – Heifetz (the dedicatee), Menuhin, Franccscatti, Chung, Kennedy – in his dazzling passage work … with his gorgeous portamento and rubato” – Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times

“What is so remarkable about Bowes as a soloist is not just his technical assurance, his flawless intonation over the widest range, tonal and dynamic, but his natural feeling for warmly romantic expressiveness … Altogether a resounding success” – Edward Greenfield, Gramophone Magazine

Thomas Bowes, violin
Malmö Opera Orchestra
Joseph Swensen, conductor

Thomas Bowes
is one of the UK’s finest violinists.

He is very active in the realm of cinema and millions have heard him on the soundtracks of his 200+ film credits. Most recently, he was featured as the solo violinist in Alexandre Desplat’s score for Guillermo del Toro’s award-winning stop-motion film Pinocchio.

His concerto appearances in Europe and the USA have included highly-praised performances of concertos by Elgar, Britten, Szymanowski, Walton and Eleanor Alberga.

Tom’s recording of the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas was released in 2018 on the Navona label to great critical acclaim, with Laurence Vittes in Gramophone Magazine noting it was ‘deeply human…unusually communicative…a succession of miracles.’ His ‘Bach Pilgrimage’ is now a regular feature of Tom’s concert-giving, taking him to venues and local communities across the UK. In 2019 Tom received a ‘Sebastian Award’ from the Ars Ante Portas Civic Association of Bratislava, Slovakia, for his ‘Extraordinary contribution in maintaining public appreciation of the work of JS Bach’.

Navona also released Tom’s recording of the complete Ysaÿe solo Sonatas in 2020. Critics noted a rare depth of interpretation and characterisation, and the recording was nominated for the solo instrumental category of the International Classical Music Awards. A further recording of the complete Telemann Fantasias for solo violin was released on the Navona label in October ’21 and has already achieved over 300,000 plays on digital platforms.

Tom is currently developing a touring show on the extraordinary life of Niccolò Paganini. This show will be based around performances of his hair-raising Caprices for solo violin interwoven with a narration of his life, wrapped up in legend, anecdote and fact.

Between 1988 and 1993 Tom was the founding leader of the Maggini String Quartet, and together with his wife, the composer and pianist Eleanor Alberga OBE, he formed the duo Double Exposure in 1995. The duo toured extensively with concerts and broadcasts in the USA and Europe, and together they made a major tour of China in 1997, winning the hearts of their audiences wherever they played. They returned to China in November 2019.

Tom had been a constant advocate of Alberga’s music and has given first performances and made recordings of many of her works, including her two violin concertos.

Between 2003 and 2015, he was the Artistic Director of the Langvad Chamber Music Jamboree in Denmark, and in 2010, with Alberga, he founded the music festival ‘Arcadia’ in north Herefordshire, England.

Tom is privileged to own and play a violin by one of the great Cremonese makers - a splendid 1659 Nicolo Amati.

This album contains no booklet.