#136 The Smell of Command

This is an order. The violin is in charge, dictating its conditions. It's strong, stiff, insisting.

Ehnes keeps the written rigidity and does not add one into the sound. He forms a round, sad, and very clear tone. Listen to it and you're down and lonely.

Composer: Niccolò Paganini
Work: Caprice No 3
Recording: James Ehnes

#8 The Smell of Perfection

The tone! Ehnes is creating something very magical here. The concerto is well known yet I wonder how different it can suddenly sound. The violin is really singing, pattering, always round, always pleasant, airy and jubilant.

This recording is touching the inner worlds. At first, it may not sound so different from other ones (say, Kavakos has the same tempo through the last movement, never off by more than 1 second). But the tone of Ehnes's violin is reaching eternity of perfection.

Composer: Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Work: Violin Concerto in E minor, III. Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto vivace
Recording: James Ehnes, Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy