Released on Friday 11 April 2025
Listen on Amazon Music / Apple Music / Presto Music
Decca, 2025
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ “ This is a most joyous and energetic account of one of the repertoire’s biggest and best concertos” (Geoff Brown, The Times)
⭐⭐⭐⭐ “In a matter seconds you know this Beethoven Violin Concerto will be different.” (Ken Walton, The Scotsman)
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ “A real pleasure” (Mischa Donat, BBC Music Magazine)
“urgent from the outset, creating a fresh impression” (Tully Potter, The Strad Recommends)
This is Aurora Orchestra’s first recording played entirely from memory. Our Principal Conductor, Nicholas Collon, says: “Beethoven’s violin concerto was the perfect work with which to explore this approach: the orchestral accompaniment is truly symphonic in scope, and the interplay between orchestra and soloist is so rich and multi-layered. Creating an audio recording of a piece from memory raises an interesting question; does the memorised approach translate to a non-visual format? Our recording sessions in Alexandra Palace Theatre came off the back of hugely joyful live performances, in which we felt we discovered a new sense of freedom, truly exploring the symphonic nature of the score and trying to throw off the usual constraints of ‘accompanying,’ whilst also sensing a deeper communication with Nicky’s fabulous solo part.”
“In performance and recording we placed the woodwind at the front of the orchestra, next to Nicky, for the ravishing 2nd movement, in which they ‘converse’ so closely with the violin solo. In the first movement cadenza, Nicky moved near to her duet partner – the timpani – and handed over to the bassoon solo for it to lead into the final coda. In the recording itself we tried to imagine we were making a performance in front of an audience, making longer takes than usual, an approach which feels quite natural when there is no music in place. Of course, one of the key differences of playing from memory is a visual one – both in terms of communication between players and communication between players and audience. Whilst this has to be left to the listener’s imagination, I do hope that some of the depth of commitment and love that all the players involved gave to the piece transmits to this album.”
This is a recording of a piece that emerges out of the urgency of the performances that inspired it, and Nicola Benedetti says, to “try to approach this music with freshness of heart and mind. The solo line of this concerto was born out of an improvisatory spirit, with a lightness of touch soon to be out of fashion, with a virtuosity of integrity and poise. Many of us violinists grew up with such unhealthy reverence towards Beethoven, which soon turns into fear and an unnatural approach to his music. It can damage our ability to notice and embrace his humour, his wildness, and perhaps more importantly, the depth and power of his relationship to improvisation.”