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February 8, 2015 at PST

Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 5 & Sinfonia concertante

9 Tracks

February 4, 2016 at PST

Korngold & Britten: Violin Concertos

The contemporary classical scene requires not just instrumental chops but conceptual smarts, too. In addition to the precision and style she brings to the violin, this Norwegian virtuoso shows a flair for programming, pairing wartime concertos by Britten and Korngold. Frang complicates the former’s occasionally icy emotional tenor by bringing out a singing quality in the violin’s lines; in the Korngold, she renders the second movement cadenza as dryly as possible. Conductor James Gaffigan and the Frankfurt players give supple support for each of Frang’s sizzling interpretations.

6 Tracks

August 26, 2009 at PDT

Sibelius: Violin Concerto & Humoresques - Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1

9 Tracks

October 13, 2022 at PDT

Beethoven & Stravinsky: Violin Concertos

For Norwegian violinist sensation Vilde Frang, every album is a special event. Her inspired concerto couplings have so far included the Sibelius and Prokofiev 1, the Nielsen and Tchaikovsky, the Britten and Korngold, and now, perhaps even more startlingly, the Beethoven and Stravinsky. Yet for Frang, it is an obvious pairing, as both pieces thrive on inspired musical dialogue and share a propensity for chamber-scale reflexes and intimacy. “That is why the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Pekka Kuusisto were the perfect partners,” she tells Apple Music. “I very much wanted to create the impression of being part of a chamber ensemble, and a sense of everyone listening keenly to each other. And I couldn’t have been luckier than to have Pekka as the person through which to channel my ideas. The orchestra absolutely adore him—he is like their artistic best friend.

“Together, they are like Beethoven’s vision of the perfect brotherhood—everyone is equal, anyone can make comments, and there is an exhilarating sense of collective freedom. They are a perfect example of what music-making should be. Everything in music is a two-way process. It’s all about giving and receiving, and working with these amazing musicians opened up a whole new world of possibilities to me. There was a real sense of all the strands of my musical life coming together.”

The Beethoven Violin Concerto especially feels as though it has undergone a fundamental transformation. The work is no longer about a lone voice pitted against orchestral might, but a celebration of shared musical ideals. “By working in this chamber manner,” Frang explains, “the music actually feels more expansive. It enhances its power and the way it continually breaks new ground. You become more keenly aware of just how revolutionary Beethoven’s thinking is.”

Frang used to perform the traditional Fritz Kreisler solo cadenzas in the Beethoven Violin Concerto, but for the recording, she transcribed the composer’s own cadenzas, complete with timpani, which he wrote for his later piano version of the work. “We were lucky to have an extremely gifted young timpanist for the sessions,” Frang says, “who created such an impression that Pekka called him ‘maestro.’ Collaborating with him was a real partnership of equals and opened my eyes to the fantastic expressive potential of the timpani.”

If the Beethoven Violin Concerto feels more keenly dramatic and musically volatile than usual, then the Stravinsky emerges as a dazzling cornucopia of fast-cutting textural interfaces. “There is no other concerto quite like it,” Frang agrees. “Stravinsky opens all four movements with the same chord [differently presented], as though raising the curtain on a theatrical scene. The opening movement is sheer spectacle—it’s hilarious! Like ‘The Shrovetide Fair’ in Petrushka, different characters parade past, with every instrument having a chance to shine, as though Stravinsky is playing with the orchestra’s sonorities.

“‘Aria I’ [the second movement] is halfway between an intermezzo and a scherzo, and creates the impression of being at the ballet bar or studio. The Concerto’s emotional core, however, is ‘Aria II,’ which is almost like a Greek tragedy and is surprisingly painful. If, to an extent, in the other three movements Stravinsky wears a series of masks, here the mask comes off—this is emotion in the raw, without any sense of disguise or irony. It is so unexpected, and you can go very deep in that movement. It’s like the clown’s makeup being removed.”

In a sense, the finale (“Capriccio”) brings the album full circle, as it is full of brilliant exchanges, both within the orchestral ranks and interacting with the solo violin. “It requires fast-cutting, split-second reactions,” says Frang. “In an instant, you might have to transform from the character of a gorilla to a butterfly. Everyone was at the very top of their game, exhilarating in the music’s playful virtuosity. Recording it was one of the most thrilling musical experiences of my life so far.”

7 Tracks

September 5, 2024 at PDT

Elgar: Violin Concerto, Op. 61

With its constant outpouring of interweaving musical ideas and motifs, Elgar’s Violin Concerto is one of the Edwardian English composer’s most emotionally and technically demanding works. As with all major Elgar, however, balances need to be struck between outward grandeur, soulful lyricism, and playful exuberance—a blend that maybe resulted from Elgar’s attempt to rise to the challenge set by the world-renowned violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler to write “something for the violin,” but also from the prospect of the composer knitting into its pages his deep affection for an unnamed love.

On the evidence of the final movement alone, Vilde Frang is an innate Elgarian and displays in its opening seconds a delicious clarity and confidence. Never have the composer’s swirling figurations sounded so wild and free, yet so assured, with Frang’s intonation unwavering in its precision. That controlled abandon continues right through the movement, with a cadenza that is breathtaking in its dynamic and tonal control. The opening of the Concerto is no less impressive, Frang’s entry three minutes into the first movement as impassioned as any account, yet more vivid and vital than most.

Frang’s performance is complemented by the superlative playing of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin who, under the watchful eye of Robin Ticciati, make dramatic sense of Elgar’s capricious work, with its fleet-footed changes in tempo, mood, and dynamics.

Two beautiful miniatures bring us back down to earth: one is a relatively unknown piece by Elgar for violin and piano, the other a beautifully-wrought arrangement for violin and orchestra of a nostalgic flute piece by William Lloyd Webber.

5 Tracks

September 6, 2018 at PDT

Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 1 – Enescu: Octet

6 Tracks

November 14, 2019 at PST

Paganini & Schubert: Works for Violin & Piano

11 Tracks

November 16, 2017 at PST

Homage

Vilde Frang and José Gallardo pay homage to the great violinists of the past and their flamboyant, even poignant, encores. Virtuosity aside, great melodies are the kings here—Gluck’s “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” is a thing of great beauty in Kreisler’s arrangement, and Jascha Heifetz’s version of a movement from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet is dark and mischievous. And through Schumann’s soaring “Widmung” and Debussy’s seductive “La plus que lente,” both expertly transformed, Frang’s superlative musicianship shows how the humble encore can achieve true musical greatness.

17 Tracks

June 3, 2012 at PDT

Nielsen & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos

Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is so frequently recorded that it’s difficult for new versions to make a distinct impression. The Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang does just that, however, in this bristlingly alive performance taped in 2011, when she was 25. The long opening movement feels freshly minted in Frang’s sweet-toned interpretation, the phrasing spontaneous and full of stimulating twists and wry inflections. In the central Canzonetta she is wistfully songful, while the super-fast finale is joyfully virtuosic, with an exuberant lightness of touch achieved by few other violinists. The less well-known Concerto by Carl Nielsen is the coupling, Frang’s empathetic advocacy suggesting it’s a work that merits closer attention. Conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen elicits hand-in-glove accompaniments from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and the recorded sound is excellent.

7 Tracks