Lively and brilliant strings are pushing on, and even in slower or soften moments (3'11'') you can feel how nervous they are. The essential rush is never ending: dance me tonight, dance me to the end of life!
Abbado loosens the reins and let's the music flow. LSO plays boldly and zestfully, there are no limits. A very warming recording.
Composer: Felix Mendelssohn Work: Symphony No 4, IV. Saltarello. Presto Recording: London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Forget the fairy tales about Scotland. From the first chord, here's the Dark Side of The Force. Pushing, stretching, reaching out (3'59''). Maestoso starts at 6'58''. Darkness is defeated by a broad, positive flow of energy. The victory is absolute.
Peter Maag's recording is maagical. True legend.
Composer: Felix Mendelssohn Work: Symphony No 3, IV. Allegro vivacissimo–Allegro maestoso assai Recording: London Symphony Orchestra, Peter Maag
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
