Catalogue Connection: 25160

On Violin Muse the British violinist Madeleine Mitchell presents a program of world premiere recordings of works by British composers (Divine Art dda 25160).

The major work here is the two-movement Violin Concerto “Soft Stillness” by Welsh composer Guto Pryderi Puw, commissioned by Mitchell and heard in a live BBC Radio recording from 2016. It’s an effective piece, with Mitchell accompanied by the BBC National
Orchestra of Wales under Edwin Outwater.

Mitchell is joined by Cerys Jones in Judith Weir’s delightful Atlantic Drift – Three pieces for two violins, based on Gaelic folk tunes.

Pianist Nigel Clayton is the accompanist in the remaining works: Geoffrey Poole’s Rhapsody; David Matthews’ Romanza Op.119a; Sadie Harrison’s lovely Aurea Luce; Michael Berkeley’s Veilleuse; and Michael Nyman’s Taking it as Read.
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There’s excellent playing throughout by all concerned.

Violin Muse brings together seven premiere recordings of works by British composers, five of them written for Madeleine Mitchell.

They’re a nicely diverse selection, with recorded sound crisp and lustrous throughout, and Mitchell underlines her credentials as a persuasive advocate for these colourful contemporary pieces.

Shades of Shostakovich surface in Geoffrey Poole’s Rhapsody, with its arch melodies and jazz inflections, and there are even echoes of Simon and Garfunkel at one point in the piano’s plaintive repeating patterns. Witty one moment, melancholy and searching the next, Poole’s distinctive oeuvre slips in and out of traditional tonality easily, and Mitchell navigates its high-wire virtuosity with aplomb. Guto Puw’s Violin Concerto – the disc’s only work with orchestra — is another highlight, from the taut, claustrophobic opening in which violin and clarinet track each other to the menacing, visceral ending. The pacing is perfect, Mitchell and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales detailing Puw’s richly imagined language with compassion.

The slow creep of plainsong in Sadie Harrisons Aurea Luce builds to blistering richness, blown away by Judith Weir’s brisk and wonderfully spare Atlantic Drift, with its snatches of folk song. Here, Cerys Jones gives sensitive support as the second violinist.
For me, Nyman’s strident Taking It as Read fells a little flat after so much colour and high drama, but it’s still a winning disc with much to enjoy.

Described by The Times as ‘one of Britain’s liveliest musical forces and foremost violinists’, Madeleine Mitchell is a professor at the Royal College of Music and has performed in around 50 countries as both soloist and chamber musician. As well as being Artistic Director of the Red Violin festival and Director of the London Chamber Ensemble, she has been a member of The Fires of London and the Michael Nyman Band. Well-known for the imaginative programming of her recitals, she frequently broadcasts for television and radio, including the BBC Proms and Italian TV when she won the Palmo d’Oro, praised for her vibrant lyrical intensity and pioneering creativity. This new release features seven world premiere recordings of works by British composers with a range of styles, from the deep and heartfelt Violin Concerto Soft Stillness by Guto Puw to a stunningly simple yet beautiful work from Michael Nyman (Taking it as Read). The other composers are Judith Weir (Atlantic Drift), David Matthews, Michael Berkeley, Sadie Harrison and Geoffrey Poole. Many of the works were specially written for, and premiered by, Madeleine Mitchell, making this is a very special album for her. Most of music is for violin and piano with Nigel Clayton; Cerys Jones appears in the super violin duet Atlantic Drift by Judith Weir, and Puw’s Concerto is a BBC recording with the BBC National Orchestra Of Wales and American conductor Edwin Outwater. ‘A violinist in a million.’ The Herald.