Elgar: Violin Concerto, Op. 61 Vilde Frang, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin & Robin Ticciati

• Sir Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934): Violin Concerto in B Minor, Op. 61:
• 1 Elgar: Violin Concerto in B Minor, Op. 61: I. Allegro 17:45
• 2 Elgar: Violin Concerto in B Minor, Op. 61: II. Andante 11:47
• 3 Elgar: Violin Concerto in B Minor, Op. 61: III. Allegro molto 19:33
• Carissima (Version for Violin and Piano):
• 4 Elgar: Carissima (Version for Violin and Piano) 03:38
• William Lloyd Webber (1914 - 1982): The Gardens at Eastwell "A Late Summer Impression" (Arr. Soudoplatoff for Violin and Strings):
• 5 Webber: The Gardens at Eastwell "A Late Summer Impression" (Arr. Soudoplatoff for Violin and Strings) 02:32
• Total Runtime 55:15

Info for Elgar: Violin Concerto, Op. 61

“I have wanted to record this concerto for a long time, and Elgar actually has been a very late discovery for me, the Violin Concerto. But it didn't take me a long time to become a very passionate ambassador for this piece. And I really feel that the format of this piece is such a vast piece of music and it's more on the symphonic scale than a violin concerto to me, which is why I take immense pleasure in playing this concerto.” (Vilde Frang)

The album also features Elgar’s short piece Carissima with Thomas Hoppe at the piano.

The Violin Concerto by the English late Romantic composer Edward Elgar, whose world premiere with the famous violinist Fritz Kreisler took place in London in 1910 under the composer's direction, is certainly a remarkable work with a special destiny. For, unlike much of Elgar's artistic legacy, it has remained in the repertoire from its premiere to the present day, and was performed with equal success in the 1950s-1980s, when Elgar's music appeared only sporadically in concert halls and recording studios. Fritz Kreisler was not only the initiator of the concert, but also a sincere admirer of Elgar. In his appreciation he went so far as to name him the greatest living composer in 1905 (our Antonín Dvořák had been dead for about a year at that time, so we need not be too sorry about this designation). In any case, the work Elgar created for him certainly does not spare the soloist, quite the contrary. In addition to the high technical demands, it is also quite extensive - most performances approach an hour. As in the case of Dvořák's brilliant Cello Concerto, it is also a symphonic work with a strong solo part rather than a "pure" instrumental concerto. Nevertheless (or perhaps because of it) it is quite popular among performers and listeners, especially in the Anglo-Saxon milieu. Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang (b. 1986) says of it that, although she discovered it for herself rather late, its symphonic conception quickly won her over and it is now one of her most popular pieces.

This can also be felt in her distinctive conception, which combines technical sovereignty with emotional immediacy and at the same time a certain grandeur of expression.

The reviews of Vilde Frang’s recent Elgar concert performances have been outstanding, media writing about a remarkable performance bringing out Elgar’s extraordinary beauty.

“Vilde Frang triumphs in Elgar’s Violin Concerto when the CBSO tour comes to Cardiff” (Seen and Heard International)

“…violin virtuoso Vilde Frang captures every moment of febrility and nobility with a startling immediacy” (The Guardian)

Vilde Frang, violin
Thomas Hoppe, piano
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Robin Ticciati, conductor

Vilde Frang
Frang’s profound musicianship and exceptional lyricism has elevated her as one of the leading and most individual young artists.

In 2012 she was unanimously awarded the Credit Suisse Young Artists Award which led to her debut with the Wiener Philharmoniker under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival.

Regularly appearing with the world’s leading orchestras, 2016 saw Vilde make her acclaimed debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle as part of their Europa Konzert; she returned during the 17-18 season for subscription concerts at the Philharmonie and the Baden Baden Easter Festival with Ivan Fischer. Other recent highlights have included performances with the San Francisco and Pittsburgh Symphonies, Munich and LA Philharmonics, Bamberger Symphoniker, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester, Orchestre de Paris and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as extensive European tours with the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg.

The 2019-20 season sees Vilde give several highly anticipated debuts with the Bayerische Staatsorchester, Les Siècles and London Symphony Orchestra with Antonio Pappano. She will also embark on a tour with Rotterdam Philharmonic and Lahav Shani which will include her return to the Lucerne Festival. Other highlights of the season include engagements with Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Cleveland Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the BBC Symphony Orchestra as well as the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Mark Elder. Performing with the Oslo Philharmonic twice this season, Vilde will give concerts with Vasily Petrenko as well as Herbert Blomstedt performing the Elgar Violin Concerto and Beethoven Violin Concerto respectively. Vilde will also return to China as part of a tour with the Bamberger Symphoniker with Jakub Hrůša.

A keen chamber musician, Vilde regularly appears at festivals in Rheingau, Lockenhaus, George Enescu Festival, Salzburg Festival and the Prague Spring Music Festival. She appears regularly in recital at the Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Philharmonie Berlin, Wigmore Hall, Tonhalle Zurich and the Bozar in Brussels, as well as part of the Vancouver Recital Series, Boston Celebrity Series and San Francisco Performances. This season will include an evening recital at Wigmore Hall as well as performances of Beethoven String Trios with Lawrence Power and Nicolas Altstaedt. Performing at the International Chamber Music Series at London Southbank, the Trio will also perform at the Laeiszhalle Hamburg and Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

Vilde Frang is an exclusive Warner Classics artist and her recordings have received numerous awards. She is the recipient of the Classic BRIT Award, “Diapason d’Or” by Diapason Magazine, Académie Charles Cros’ «Grand Prix du Disque», Deutsche Schallplattenpreis and the Echo Klassik Award. She also received a Gramophone Award in the Concerto category for her recording of Korngold’s Violin Concerto and Britten’s Violin Concerto.

Robin Ticciati
OBE has been the Music Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) since the 2017-18 season. In the summer of 2014 he took on the role of Music Director of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. From 2009 to 2017 he held the position of Principal Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO), and from 2010 to 2013 was First Guest Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony.

The young Briton with Italian roots is a regular guest conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. In addition, his guest-conducting highlights include the Wiener Philharmoniker, Czech Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Staatskapelle Dresden. In 2023, he made his long-awaited debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Tours with the SCO have led Robin Ticciati through Europe and to Asia. In the 2014-15 season, he conducted a Europe tour of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, and in autumn 2016 he toured with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Anne-Sophie Mutter, performing concerts in Berlin, Munich, Paris and Vienna. In January 2019, he performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe “in memoriam Claudio Abbado” in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne und Salzburg. In the 2019-20 season, he conducted an Asia tour with the DSO consisting of a residency in Tokyo and concerts in China, followed by guest appearances, for instance in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

As Music Director of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Robin Ticciati conducted new productions of Debussy’s ‘Pelléas et Mélisande’, Strauss’s ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ and Mozart’s ‘La finta giardiniera’, in addition to Mozart’s ‘Entführung aus dem Serail’, Dvořák’s ‘Rusalka’, Ethel Smyth’s ‘Les Naufrageurs’ as the world premiere of the original version and a Poulenc evening with ‘La voix humaine’ and ‘Les mamelles de Tirésias’. Furthermore, Robin Ticciati conducted Britten’s ‘Peter Grimes’ at La Scala in Milan, Mozart’s ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ at the Salzburg Festival and Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugen Onegin’ at the Royal Opera House in London as well as at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he also conducted Humperdinck’s ‘Hänsel und Gretel’. In February 2024, he made his debut with the Staatskapelle for a new production of Dvořák’s ‘Rusalka’ at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin.

Numerous CD recordings with Robin Ticciati have been released by Linn Records, including Haydn symphonies, two Berlioz albums and a complete recording of Schumann’s and Brahms’s symphonies with the SCO, as well as Berlioz’s ‘L’Enfance du Christ’ with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. These were all enthusiastically received by the critics and won numerous awards. Also with Linn Records, Robin Ticciati and the DSO presented highly acclaimed recordings of works by Bruckner, Debussy, Duparc, Duruflé, Fauré, Rachmaninoff, and Strauss. Ticciati’s discography also comprises Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, Bruckner’s Mass in F minor and a Brahms recording with the Bamberger Symphoniker and the Choir of the Bayerischer Rundfunk (Tudor), as well as a number of opera recordings for Opus Arte.

Since taking up his post at the DSO, Robin Ticciati has repeatedly demonstrated his versatility, love of experimentation and flexibility with repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the present day, as well as with unusual forms of presentation and projects. During the 2020-21 pandemic, he realized a series of elaborate music films with his orchestra, including Strauss’s ‘An Alpine Symphony’ as a musical and philosophical mountain tour with the legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner, which was presented, among others, on ‘DG Stage’, Deutsche Grammophon’s digital concert hall. In the 2023-24 season, Ticciati and the DSO attracted much attention with a feminist music policy initiative under the motto “No concert without a female composer!”. Robin Ticciati will remain at the head of the orchestra until the end of 2024.

Robin Ticciati was born in London in 1983 and trained first as a violinist, pianist and percussionist. He played in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain until turning to conducting at the age of 15. His mentors and patrons include Sir Colin Davis and Sir Simon Rattle. In 2014 he was appointed the ‘Sir Colin Davis Fellow of Conducting’ at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Robin Ticciati was awarded an OBE for services to music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours (2019).

Booklet for Elgar: Violin Concerto, Op. 61