A Delight Philippe Quint plays Korngold's Violin Concerto - heard by PATRIC STANDFORD '... his emotional command is convincing.'

Despite the name, Philippe Quint was born in Russia and has so far excelled in performances of rich romantic twentieth century pieces by Bernstein, Corigliano, Virgil Thomson, William Schuman, Ned Rorem and Miklós Rózsa, and is well armed to present a thoroughly persuasive and assured performance of Korngold's superb concerto. There are no flaws here, and his emotional command is convincing. This is a performance I would listen to repeatedly, and stands very high among others of note, including Perlman and the work's dedicatee Heifetz.

His well controlled and effortless technique also provide a brilliance to that ebullient finale.

The thematic origins are, as with many Korngold works, his film scores, and the group of sources for the concerto include Another Dawn, Anthony Adverse, and for the finale the 1937 film The Prince and the Pauper which starred Errol Flynn. Conductor Prieto helps to make this a valued recording by the including of a vigorous performance of the early Schauspiel Overture, or Overture to a Drama by the fourteen-year-old composer -- the first piece he orchestrated without assistance. It was given its première by Nikisch and the Gewandhaus.

The suite from Korngold's incidental music to Shakespeare's Much Ado was first heard in Vienna in 1920 and has a substantial Overture

followed by four short and typically expressive movements, including a deliciously sleepy Intermezzo for the 'garden scene'.

Altogether, a delight.

NAXOS