…in the violin concerto Lalishri and its companion piece Dhyana the sheer seductive beauty of the sound is hard to resist. …Lalishri in particular is full of surprises, not least Tavener's feeling for the violin both as singer and as virtuoso soloist. It's clear from Nicola Benedetti's performance that she loves this music every bit as much as she loves Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending, which she plays with similar open-hearted warmth and rapt concentration - as well as superb technical control.

Like the work’s eponymous bird Nicola Benedetti’s playing soars and floats, and she resists the ugly slides that often, for me at least, mar other (more famous) recordings of this piece. Her playing is lyrical and assured, and receives some excellent support from Andrew Litton and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The third disc of DG's deal with the former BBC Young Musician amply justifies the company's confidence in this wonderfully pure-toned young violinist. It is an imaginative coupling of three Tavener works – two inspired by Benedetti and a third arranged for her – and the VW work voted the nation's most popular classic.
The choral Song for Athene crowned the music at Princess Diana's funeral. This arrangement cannot match that haunting quality although it's beautifully played. Tavener has described Bene- detti's playing as 'like a voice…you feel her breathing a line,' and the brief Dhyana (Sanskrit for 'meditation') is meant to reflect her contemplative style. Lalishri is much more ambitious, almost 40 minutes long, and is inspired by the 14th-century Hindu poet and saint Lalia Yogishwari. The solo violin represents the songs of the poet while the music reflects Tavener's devotion to the Indian raga, meditational depths punctuated by sharp, even frenetic, changes of mood in dance rhythms. Benedetti's fine performance sustains its length well with much double- stopping, pizzicato effects, trills and quarter tones. Unlike much of Tavener's music, the work has great vigour with a powerful rather than meditative close.
The Lark Ascending receives a spacious performance, reflective and pure-toned in the fluttering evocations of the lark and powerful in the tuttis, thanks to the weighty accompaniment of Andrew Litton and the LPO, with far bigger dynamic contrasts than usual. A fascinating disc that should have even more listeners magnetised by the music of Tavener as well as of Vaughan Williams.