Adams: Violin Concerto / Corigliano: The Red Violin: Chaconne

"(Chloe's) debut with Naxos is a formidable addition to the label's encyclopaedic series of American classics...Throughout this major 20th-century concerto, the clarity of the Naxos recording is immaculate, making the balance between soloist and orchestra notably clearer than in Gidon Kremer's 1993 CD...The result is a rare communion between composer, soloist, conductor and orchestra."
(William Dart NZ Herald Oct 18th 2006)

"This is an enticing program, particularly for the two Franz Waxman items, which will have fans of the composer delighted. The great film composer's arrangement of Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 manages to squeeze bits of every tune in the original work's concluding quick section into just two-and-a-half minutes of violin and orchestra fireworks. Even more interesting is the Tristan and Isolde Fantasia for violin, piano, and orchestra--wonderfully lush and decadent, and proving once again that Isolde's Liebestod sounds much better without Isolde.

John Corigliano's Chaconne from The Red Violin is a splendid piece, and it makes an excellent foil to the Adams, which also features a chaconne as its central movement. The performances are quite good, but the competition is fierce: from Joshua Bell in the Corigliano, and from both Gidon Kremer (Nonesuch) and Robert McDuffie (Telarc) in the Adams. Chloë Hanslip isn't quite in their league. She's an estimable player, but her slender tone gets swamped now and then in the Waxman pieces, and she doesn't project the mysteriously lyrical opening movement of the Adams with as strong a profile as the competition (particularly at this relatively slow tempo).

Certainly I have no complaints about Slatkin's conducting, or regarding the well-balanced engineering. In the final analysis, although you can perhaps do a bit better in the Corigliano and Adams items, the value of this disc lies in bringing all of these varied and enjoyable works together at such an attractive price. Intelligent planning and solid musicianship certainly combine to overcome any minor technical or interpretive reservations."
Classics Today 8/9 Sept 2006

"Still only 18, Chloe Hanslip sounds much older than her years in her debut disc for Naxos, taking a non-stop, virtuosic ride through the sinuous twists and turns of John Adams's violin concerto (1993), a young person's work, perhaps brimming with energy and vitality amid its more meditative moments. Hanslip continues the American there with polished performances of John Corigliano's chaconne from the 1998 film, The Red Violin, and movie composer Franz Waxman's fantasia on Tristan and Isolde, as well as his arrangement of Enescu's first Romanian rhapsody."
Daily Telegraph, September 2006

"British violinist Chloë Hanslip offers an ambitious and rangy program on her Naxos debut, bravely performing only more-or-less-contemporary works. Her abundant, almost-vocal tone is straight out of the High Romantic tradition, an approach well suited to the Chaconne drawn from John Corigliano's score to the film The Red Violin. This piece turns a stark light on good old-fashioned virtuosity, combining the old ethos of the showpiece concerto with some radical, modern orchestral timbres. Hanslip's lush but aggressive sound suits it perfectly."
Time Out New York