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SIBELIUS / PROKOFIEV: VIOLIN CONCERTO
VILDE FRANG:  Violin
WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne 
Thomas Søndergård:  Conductor
EMI 50999 6 84413 2 6

“Bow and bowing arm were raised high in the air (…) only making physically visible the depth of feeling already imbedded in her rounded tones, strong attack and mastery of the singing line. She bewitched within seconds … with her heart, soul and penetrating technique, she is definitely a violinist to look out for.” The Times

In this her debut CD for EMI, the Norwegian-born violinist, Vilde Frang chose three of Sibelius’s elusive miniatures as rarely heard companions to his fire-and-ice Violin Concerto and the tenderly voiced soul of another Northern masterpiece, Prokofiev’s first violin concerto. Frang plays a Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin, on loan from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Freundeskreis Stifting, which has supported her since 2003.

The violin was Sibelius’ musical instrument and he may well have had dreams early on to become a violin virtuoso. In writing a challenging display piece for the violin, Sibelius was torn between the desire to provide a vehicle for the virtuoso he himself could have been and his overriding compositional drive for formal clarity and cohesion. Nevertheless the solo part is challenging in the extreme and Vilde Frang plays with such ease and confidence that she is bound to be one of the new guiding lights of the future. The three Sibelius Humoresques are seldom heard and once again in Frang’s performance she proves that she has interpretation skills well beyond her years. 

I found the Prokofiev a little light-weight even though she is quite capable from a technical point of view. Overall, Valde Frang is an incredible find.

by Mike Ford