Prokofiev, Walton & Vaughan Williams

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Full marks for this well-conceived programme, which brings together two works closely related but rarely coupled…van Keulen plays [the Prokofiev] with a shiny, rather glassy (rather than glossy)... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2019, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 2nd Nov 2018
Catalogue No: CC72793
Label: Challenge Classics
Length: 62 minutes

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Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19

Work length22:53

$4.00

$5.60

Isabelle van Keulen
NDR Radiophilharmonie
Andrew Manze

I. Andantino

Track length9:48

$1.50

$2.10

II. Scherzo. Vivacissimo

Track length3:59

$1.00

$1.40

III. Moderato. Allegro moderato

Track length9:06

$1.50

$2.10

Walton: Viola Concerto

Work length26:13

$4.50

$6.30

Isabelle van Keulen
NDR Radiophilharmonie
Keri-Lynn Wilson

I. Andante comodo

Track length8:13

$1.50

$2.10

II. Vivo, con moto preciso

Track length4:26

$1.00

$1.40

III. Allegro moderato

Track length13:34

$2.00

$2.80

Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending

Work length13:39

$2.00

$2.80

Isabelle van Keulen
NDR Radiophilharmonie
Andrew Litton

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Isabelle van Keulen once again proves her skill and musical insight both as a violinist and as a violist on one of Challenge Classics highlights of 2018. Recorded live, van Keulen has paired two great Concertos from the roaring 20s: Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No.1 and Walton's Viola Concerto.

Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No.1, whose premiere was in 1923 (while the composer was still living in France, a few years before his return to Soviet Union) served as a much-admired model to Walton's Viola Concerto, whose first performance was played by Paul Hindemith in 1929. The similarities between the two works go beyond the three-movements structure slow-quick-slow and concern themes, accompaniments and the rondo form of the virtuoso central Scherzo.

The idea of such unusual coupling came to one of the few great living violinists who can really play the viola with equal skill: Isabelle van Keulen. This glorious disc is crowned by the orchestrated version of Vaughan Williams' masterpiece The Lark Ascending. One of German radio best orchestras, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, is conducted by Andrew Manze (Prokofiev), Keri-Lynn Wilson (Walton) and Andrew Litton (Vaughan Williams).

Reviews

January 2019

Full marks for this well-conceived programme, which brings together two works closely related but rarely coupled…van Keulen plays [the Prokofiev] with a shiny, rather glassy (rather than glossy) tone…No reservations are needed for the Walton, whose introverted yet deep running emotion well suits van Keulen’s way with the husky-toned viola she plays. Conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson finds an ideal balance of restraint and (in the scherzo) extroversion.

June 2019

[The Prokofiev]…receives a fresh and imaginative performance, the soloist’s slender, slightly metallic timbre and occasionally self-conscious phrasing offsetting any tendency to glib romanticism… The Walton, though firmly projected with few if any moments of strain, is likelier to disappoint… Things look up interpretatively speaking with The Lark Ascending… The silvery protagonist is less somnolent than many rivals.

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Prokofiev, Walton & Vaughan Williams

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