This is the 25th-anniversary reissue of Rachel Barton Pine’s groundbreaking album ‘Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries’. Missing from the original 1997 release is the concerto by the Chevalier de Meude-Monpas, as recent scholarship has determined that he was almost certainly not of African descent as previously believed. In its place, however, we are given a stunning new recording of Florence Price’s Second Violin Concerto (1952).

The 1997 recordings still sound terrific and, with her finely spun tone and elegant virtuosity, Pine remains a most persuasive advocate, while the Encore Chamber Orchestra – made up of the best players of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and professionals who are CYSO alumni – play with warmth and vitality for Daniel Hege. We’ve had a slightly more recent account of the Saint-Georges by Takako Nishizaki (Naxos, 7/01), although I prefer Pine’s for its greater ebullience. I also prefer Pine to Aaron Rosand (Sony) in White’s charmer of a concerto, particularly in the exquisite delicacy she brings to the nocturnal slow movement.

Without a doubt, though, the real prize here is the newly recorded version of Price’s Second Concerto. Er-Gene Kahng’s premiere recording with the Janáček Philharmonic under Ryan Cockerham (Albany) was clearly a labour of love but Pine characterises the music more vividly, aided by Jonathon Heyward (currently music director designate of the Baltimore Symphony), who leads the RSNO with a sure and sensitive hand. One can hear the difference straight away in the punch of the orchestra’s brief, syncopated introduction, and then in the playful sense Pine brings to the arabesques of the violin’s opening cadenza.

Price’s Concerto is compact (barely 15 minutes) but structurally sui generis in the way the thematic ideas are connected. Pine and Heyward hold the piece together tautly while allowing for a sense of fantasy, and it’s this careful balancing act that has continued to impress me most over repeated listenings.

Mark Clague’s excellent booklet note has been expanded here, and now there’s also a new, substantive note by Pine about the recording’s genesis and how it led her to create a foundation to promote music by black composers. If you missed the original release, don’t hesitate to snap up this reissue. And even if you’re familiar with the earlier album, this important new account of Price’s Concerto makes this worth investigating.