Elgar: Violin Concerto

1	Violin Concerto in B mino
2	Violin Concerto in B mino
3	Violin Concerto in B mino
Elgar: Violin Concerto
1.	Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 48:25
	Composed by Edward Elgar
	Performed by Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Gil Shaham
	Conducted by David Zinman

All Music Guide

The best performances of Elgar's "Violin Concerto" have always thrown caution to the winds and attacked the work with unrestrained passion. This doesn't mean, of course, that they can throw their technique and their taste to the wind as well. Elgar's concerto is one of the supreme tests for the virtuoso and the interpreter and woe betide them if they're not up to its musical and emotional demands. Conceived as a memento for an unfulfilled love affair, Elgar's concerto is served best when it's served hot, and it's served piping hot here by violinist Gil Shaham with David Zinman leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Shaham's tone is strong and supple, his intonation is keen and focused, and his aim is straight for the beating heart of the work. Time and time again, one fears Shaham's ardent intensity may overstep the bounds of good taste, but he always pulls himself back at the edge and his account is never less than chivalrous. But in this way, Shaham finds the real core of the work's expression. In the codas to the first and last movement and in the whole of the magical central Andante, Shaham's interpretations are magnanimous in their restraint, thereby making Elgar's nobility all the more touching. Supported by the able David Zinman and the opulent Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Shaham turns in a performance that rivals the finest of the most recent recordings. Canary Classic's digital sound is rich, warm, and sumptuous. James Leonard

Gramophone

It is good to welcome an all-American performance of this most British of concertos that is so thrillingly passionate.... The playing of the orchestra finds a perfect counterpart in the performance of Gil Shaham, always one of the most sensitive and responsive of the high-powered violin virtuosos. Edward Greenfield