Beethoven: Violin Concerto - Veronika Eberle (SACD)

For her debut concerto album, violinist Veronika Eberle revisits a work that has endured more than two centuries, and shares a fresh interpretation featuring new cadenzas by composer Jörg Widmann. “May listeners hear the Violin Concerto - in all its stark radicalism, its brazen beauty and its love of experimentation - in a new way with these cadenzas: as contemporary music of today.” - Jörg Widmann Not only is Beethoven’s Violin Concerto a particular favourite of Veronika, it has been central to her career to date - most notably alongside Sir Simon Rattle, who has been Veronika’s long-time supporter and collaborator. When she was just 16, Sir Simon introduced her at the 2006 Salzburg Easter Festival, where she performed this very concerto to a packed Salzburg Festpielhaus. On this album, the pair reunite to bring this sublime masterpiece to life, and to celebrate the work that first brought Veronika to international attention. A performance review: “Eberle and Rattle brought a numbed stillness to the Largo, into which Widmann’s uncanny, ethereal cadenza dovetailed quite naturally, developing into a dialogue with the LSO’s leader. The finale brought more war-music as well as tavern-band humour in the return of the double bass. When the LSO Live album of the concert appears, it should make for essential listening.” - Peter Quantrill, The Strad