SKOG; NILSSON Violin Concertos

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Anders Nilsson, Ylva Skog

Genre:

Orchestral

Label: DB Productions

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 64

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: DBCD179

DBCD179. SKOG; NILSSON Violin Concertos

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
Violin Concerto No 1 Ylva Skog, Composer
Anna-Maria Helsing, Conductor
Cecilia Zilliacus, Violin
Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra
Ylva Skog, Composer
Violin Concerto Anders Nilsson, Composer
Anders Nilsson, Composer
Cecilia Zilliacus, Violin
Fredrik Burstedt, Conductor
Västerås Sinfonietta
Recordings are coming thick and fast from the Swedish violinist Cecilia Zilliacus and each argues emphatically that strength of tone, absolute accuracy of intonation and deep lyricism can, after all, stand up to the invigorating steampunk revisionism purveyed by the likes of Vilde Frang and Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

Here we have two resolutely tonal violin concertos written in Sweden within the last six years that both rely, to varying extents, on ostinato, patterning or ground bass to anchor the discourse. In the case of Ylva Skog’s 2015 Concerto, it’s a reliance on the most minimal versions of those things: fixed root-position orchestral chords that glisten with varying textures or a ground bass that steps through just two notes. Thus, much of Zilliacus’s activity over the top is in the manner of a recitative, which suits her just fine. Where the concerto can sound too immobile and repetitive – or just plain stuck, often on quite obvious vernacular-derived material – Zilliacus’s playing provides the distraction.

Anders Nilsson’s Concerto dates from 2011 but you could easily assume it a product of the 1930s. In terms of craft, the piece is astonishing. Nilsson uses ostinatos with the same level of panache and wicked skill as Prokofiev and Britten; a good few passages – including the intermittent passacaglia-like chorale of the final movement – recall the locked-down sequencing at the end of the latter’s Violin Concerto. Nilsson finds copious such devices for pushing his music forwards and there are always things going on at the fringes too. His melodies are heartfelt, including the skittish but clear main theme of the first movement, and the tonal qualities Zilliacus finds from her Gagliano instrument are as remarkable high up as they are down low. Her poise, control and presence single-handedly cast aside any quibbles as to why such stylistically disorientating music would warrant a recording.

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