Vilde Frang in Britten and Korngold Concertos

I was born in 1941, so my lifetime overlaps pretty well 100% with the violin concertos of Benjamin Britten and Erich Korngold. Neither concerto found much favour with the avant-garde critics of the time, but the then- protégés of the avant-garde have vanished and, little by little, the violin concertos of Britten and Korngold have advanced towards the front of the twentieth century violin repertoire. Korngold's concerto benefited from Jascha Heifetz including it in his repertoire. The Britten concerto was recorded as far back as 1948 (Theo Olof), with Mark Lubotsky and Britten in 1970 and Bronislaw Gimpel in 1961. Recorded performances began to pick up at the end of the 1990s and, since then, the Britten concerto seems to have entered the accepted violin concerto repertoire, as has the Korngold.

On a new CD, the superb Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang couples the Korngold and Britten concertos, with James Gaffigan conducting the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, with a talented recording team in Frankfurt. Both concertos earn three stars from me in these recordings. I admire the purity of Vilde Frang's playing, and her obvious identification with both works. The Britten concerto has thrown up some really talented recordings by Frank Peter Zimmerman, Janine Jansen and James Ehnes, but I am not sure that Ms Frang does not trump them all – albeit helped by an excellent recording that enables us to hear the orchestral parts plus Ms Frang's violin even when she plays softly (as she does quite often). Does the Korngold concerto need a little more schmaltz? Arguably, however, there is enough schmaltz already in Korngold's Viennese-Hollywood score without more indulgence from the soloist (Heifetz, too, felt no need to add über-schmaltz to Korngold's score).

Vilde Frang is a superb violinist, and her love and understanding for both works here shines through her playing. I am not usually a fan of Britten's music, since all too often I find it calculated rather than passionate and spontaneous. The violin concerto, however, has become one of my favourites. In previous decades, spurred on by Heifetz's espousal, the violin concerto of William Walton made regular appearances; the Britten hardly ever. The tables now have turned, and Britten's concerto – like that of Korngold – seems to be taking its rightful place in the violin concerto repertoire. Vilde Frang's new CD is one I shall cherish for a long time.