Christian Tetzlaff: Elgar and Ades Violin Concertos album review refreshing and exhilarating

"Not everyone who loves Elgar's Violin Concerto is going to love Christian Tetzlaff's new recording of it, but nobody will find it bland. What's perhaps most striking is the pace of the performance, which knocks minutes off anybody else's: Tetzlaff could have packed up and left the building by the time, say, Vilde Frang gets offstage. Egged on by the conductor John Storgards who has the BBC Philharmonic sounding electric"

"The downside is that some of the more densely woven passages sound fragmented this way; Tetzlaff is like a cat playing with a mouse, continually tensing, ready to pounce. Elgar/Ades. It's not by any means all rushed, though. Sometimes Tetzlaff is introspective where other violinists are assertive, and vice versa; the phrases that tug at the heart are not always those you would expect. It's a genuinely refreshing performance."

Christian Tetzlaff delivers a brisk, decisive reading of Elgar's Violin Concerto that prioritizes pace and intensity over expansive breadth. Conductor John Storgards and the BBC Philharmonic provide an electric orchestral backdrop that propels Tetzlaff toward moments of burgeoning intensity. The rapid tempos sometimes fragment densely woven passages, creating a taut, predatory energy. Not all moments are rushed: Tetzlaff alternates between introspection and assertiveness, producing unexpected emotional emphasis. The same urgency informs Thomas Ades's Concentric Paths, with Storgards shaping orchestral arcs, a muscular second movement that accumulates juggernaut intensity, and a third movement anchored by bass-driven centrifugal momentum.

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