Hyperions Record of the Month for April is the fourth volume in the burgeoning Romantic Violin Concerto series. The central work on the disc is Moritz Moszkowskis C major Violin Concerto, a full-blooded Romantic work which demands exceptional virtuosity. An increasing number of recordings, many on the Hyperion label, of this composers music have done much to lift his reputation beyond that of the trifling miniaturist, and the Ballade in G minor amply demonstrates how even a small canvas can aspire to advanced heights of pyrotechnic wizardry. How much better known might MieczysLaw KarLowicz have become had he not been struck down in his prime by an avalanche. What works do survive place KarLowicz firmly alongside the progressive neo-Romanticswith Wagner and Richard Strauss at their headand his reputation today is largely based on a set of six symphonic poems composed in the last few years of his life. The Violin Concerto dates from the same period. KarLowicz places considerable demands on the soloist as he exploits the instruments full potential but, as with Moszkowskis Concerto, the required virtuosity never seems superfluous. Martyn Brabbins again leads the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, this time in support of Tasmin Little, whose twenty or so recordings and innumerable worldwide concert appearances have won for her an enviable reputation as one of todays leading violinists. This is her first recording for Hyperion.