NIMROD BORENSTEIN (b.1969): Violin Concerto, Op. 60, The Big Bang and the Creation of the Universe, Op. 52, If You Will It, It Is No Dream, Op. 58.

Catalogue Number: 10T010

Label: Chandos

Reference: CHSA 5209

Format: CD

Price: $18.98

Description: Borenstein, a French-Israeli living in England, has an immensely attractive neo-romantic style, thoroughly tonal with a degree of middle-Eastern inflection and great rhythmic vitality forming a personal idiom firmly grounded in tradition. A violinist-composer, his melodic gifts and thorough knowledge of the instrument are to the fore in the substantial, four-movement romantic-styled virtuoso vehicle concerto. The propulsive outer movements pulse with energy, while the inner movements are an elegant, lyrical andante and a melancholy slow movement. Echoes, but no direct imitation, of familiar Romantic concerti are evident, and a certain 'Russian-ness' of contour and gesture; the composer's fondness for tympani and vibraphone lend a distinctive flavour to his orchestration. The movement titles of The Big Bang ... - 'Light', 'Peace' and 'Adam and Eve' tell us more about the character of the music than the overall title; the first movement teems with energy, but that of the multifarious manifestations of a new creation rather than a cataclysmic astronomical event, with an emphasis on a consonant counterpoint of melody lending the music a feeling of a Romantic transcription of Baroque themes, and Borenstein's beloved vibraphone gleaming through the orchestral textures. The middle movement is an Edenic pastoral and the last a joyous dance of life. If You Will It ... is a vigorous, high-energy concert overture with an elegant, rather Tchaikovskyan middle section. Irmina Trynkos (violin), Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra; Vladimir Ashkenazy.

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