Britten & Bruch: Violin Concertos

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Kerson Leong commands a strong technique...and he draws an absolutely gorgeous tone from his unnamed violin. But he also possesses the personal security to avoid vain virtuosity and empty showmanship... — Fanfare, Sep/Oct 2023 More…

Release Date: 5th May 2023
Catalogue No: ALPHA946
Label: Alpha
Length: 72 minutes

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Britten: Violin Concerto in D minor Op. 15

Work length32:50

$5.05

$7.65

$10.15

Kerson Leong (violin)
Philharmonia Orchestra
Patrick Hahn

I. Moderato con moto - Agitato - Tempo primo

Track length9:54

$1.50

$2.30

$3.05

II. Vivace - Animando - Largamente - Cadenza

Track length8:27

$1.50

$2.30

$3.05

III. Passacaglia - Andante lento (Un poco meno mosso)

Track length14:29

$2.05

$3.05

$4.05

Bruch: In Memoriam, Op. 65

Work length14:45

$2.05

$3.05

$4.05

Kerson Leong (violin)
Philharmonia Orchestra
Patrick Hahn

Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26

Work length25:19

$4.50

$6.90

$9.15

Kerson Leong (violin)
Philharmonia Orchestra
Patrick Hahn

I. Vorspiel. Allegro moderato

Track length8:36

$1.50

$2.30

$3.05

II. Adagio

Track length9:00

$1.50

$2.30

$3.05

III. Finale. Allegro energico

Track length7:43

$1.50

$2.30

$3.05

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About

On his second album for Alpha Classics, rising star violinist Kerson Leong juxtaposes the Violin Concertos of Bruch and Benjamin Britten. This unusual pairing is a reflection on the journey from one extreme of expression to another. Bruch’s In Memoriam is the perfect bridge between them. “The Britten expresses a raw and exposed experience, while the Bruch is comforting and uplifting. After the last few years in which the world has experienced much difficulty and uncertainty due to pandemic, war, and crisis, recording this album in London in January 2021 with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Patrick Hahn was a profoundly cathartic moment. It is in the spirit of catharsis that I offer this album.” - Kerson Leong

Reviews

Sep/Oct 2023

Kerson Leong commands a strong technique...and he draws an absolutely gorgeous tone from his unnamed violin. But he also possesses the personal security to avoid vain virtuosity and empty showmanship for their own sake. Conductor Patrick Hahn leads the Philharmonia Orchestra in readings...that are as incandescent and shimmering as Leong’s playing.

July 2023

it is the coupling of the Britten Violin Concerto (gratifyingly becoming more and more core repertoire these days) which...sets this disc apart…I can’t recall a better account of the piece than this.

9th July 2023

Bruch’s First Violin Concerto is a banker that is hard to go wrong with, although it’s a struggle to think of a lovelier and more romanticised reading of the slow movement than the one here from Kerson Leong, the Canadian violinist, with the sonorous Philharmonia rising to meet him.

Record Review

Leong sets out to capture the concerto's severe beauty and sense of unease right from the start ... it's an unusual pairing with the first concerto by Max Bruch ... The Britten raw and in the now, the Bruch offering spiritual consolation.

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