Sibelius/Barber: Violin Concertos

Renaud Capuçon's new album is a return to core repertoire: Sibelius's Violin Concerto, op.47, and Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto, op.14 - recorded with Daniel Harding as conductor and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

Much of the violin writing in the Sibelius Concerto is purely virtuosic, but even the showiest passages alternate with the melodic. This Concerto is generally symphonic in scope, departing completely from the often lighter, "rhythmic" accompaniments of many other concertos.

"I discovered this concerto by Samuel Barber on a recording made by Isaac Stern, which is very moving for me because Stern played it on the violin that is now mine. I heard it again in Gil Shaham's interpretation. The first two movements are very lilting, very melodic and generate a lot of images. The finale is very virtuoso." - Renaud Capuçon

"A musician uninhibited, at the top of his art." - Le Temps