In the Elgar violin concerto, Albert Sammons (1929) has always held first place in my esteem. Yesterday evening I listened to a performance that replaced it as my Number One (based, so far, on just one hearing). The violinist, incredibly enough, was Nigel Kennedy, back at the Proms on Saturday 19th July for the first time in 21 years; he was given a two minute ovation when he appeared, and there was a great sense of occasion.

As a person, Kennedy is off-putting, with his jazzy, mockney way of speaking and his desire to stand out by looking bizarre. But with a violin under his chin, the Elgar violin concerto, and a sense of a great event in the air, he can certainly play the fiddle! The Elgar basic tempi were swift, and Kennedy's playing mirrored every twist and turn of Elgar's complex personality; he seemed to be playing from inside the music and showed complete empathy with the music. When the violin was allowed to let rip, Kennedy was off like a rocket, revealing a technique that was quite astonishing. And his Guarneri del Gesù gave Kennedy everything he needed for this virtuoso performance. This performance also firmly underlined the ability of "special" live performances to be vastly superior to even the best studio recordings.

Well, so far I've only heard the off-air performance once, but I was quite bowled over. Only negative note was what sounds like periodic attacks by Taliban guerrillas firing rifles at key moments during the performance. Quite distracting. But maybe it wasn't Taliban guerrillas; maybe it was Kennedy leaping in the air, or stamping his hoof, during exciting moments and landing on the Royal Albert Hall stage with a distinct thud. Taliban apart, I don't think I have ever enjoyed a performance of the Elgar concerto so much -- and I do have 15 different recordings of it, most of them either good or very good.