The two works featured here by the Chinese composer Tan Dun, Rhapsody and Fantasia and Fire Ritual, date from 2009 and 2018 respectively. Rhapsody and Fantasia is in two movements, each divided into three shorter sections, while Fire Ritual’s five sections also deviate from the standard three-movement design of a concerto. Subtitled ‘A Music for the Victims of War’, it evokes a strong ceremonial quality that lies at the heart of Tan Dun’s music, clothed here in more militaristic guise. Solo violin and orchestra are often placed at opposites extremes of the spectrum, with the former functioning as the lone individual against the forces of brutality and aggression.

If Fire Ritual sees Tan Dun returning closer to his Chinese roots (something he has done more and more during the past few years), Rhapsody and Fantasia is an intoxicating blend of East and West. Violin and orchestra are treated in a far more integrated fashion. A rhythmically propulsive first movement sets up call-and-response-like textures between the two, backed up by a funky groove on percussion. The middle section’s nostalgic lyricism draws on Tan Dun’s ability to craft songlike melodies that would not sound out of place in a Broadway musical. The second movement (‘A Dream Out of Peking Opera’) makes use of quasi-recitative form, with everything almost coming to a standstill – followed by a brilliantly executed cadenza-like passage by Eldbjørg Hemsing – before accelerating towards a thunderous ending.

While some of Tan Dun’s ideas may seem rather overextended at times (one suspects that Fire Ritual would benefit from some judicious pruning in places), what comes across most powerfully here is the dynamic three-way synergetic split between Tan Dun as conductor, Eldbjørg Hemsing’s striking characterisation of the solo violin’s material, and the sheer force and power of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Recommended.