Benjamin Godard - Violin Concertos (Chloë Hanslip; Kirk Trevor)

Information

Composer: Benjamin Godard

• (01) Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 131
• (04) Concerto romantique for violin & orchestra in A minor, Op 35
• (08) Scènes poétiques, Op. 46

Chloë Hanslip, violin (1-6)
Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Košice
Kirk Trevor, conductor

Date: 2008
Label: Naxos
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.570554

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Review

Benjamin Godard (1849-95) was a prolific, fluent composer in many genres, but little of his output is familiar today. A string-player (he’d been a pupil of Henri Vieuxtemps), he writes for the violin with great panache, and Chloë Hanslip is in her element, making the most of the showy passagework, enjoying finding the right tone of voice for the different styles of melody – elegiac, sensuous or graceful – and attacking with passion the dramatic recitatives that join the movements of the Concerto romantique. The orchestral writing in both concertos is full of colour, if occasionally rather brash, and is performed here with considerable dash and spirit. There are some delightful solo contributions from oboe, clarinet and viola, in dialogue with the violin, during the little Canzonetta that separates the slow movement and finale of the Concerto romantique. Neither concerto comes near to rivalling Bruch or Tchaikovsky, but Godard is a skilful composer; it’s music that’s formally satisfying, consistently entertaining and sometimes memorable and touching. Hanslip, who’s to be congratulated for taking on such unfamiliar repertoire, seizes on these high-spots – the second theme in Op 131’s first movement, the moment in Op 35’s sombre Adagio when the first turn to the major is made – and finds just the right colour to emphasise Godard’s happy thought.

The Scènes poétiques are really salon music transposed to the concert hall. Kirk Trevor and the orchestra relish the imaginative instrumental colouring, though the performance sounds to me like music learnt in the studio, rather than familiar from many concert outings – I may be wrong.

-- Duncan Druce, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 8
http://www.classical-music.com/review/godard
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Mar08/godard_8570554.htm
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/n/nxs70554a.php
http://www.allmusic.com/album/godard-violin-concerto-no-2-concerto-romantique-sc%C3%A8nes-po%C3%A9tiques-mw0001946778
http://www.amazon.com/Godard-Violin-Concerto-Romantique-Poetiques/dp/B0011YJOTW

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Benjamin Godard (18 August 1849 – 10 January 1895) was a French violinist and Romantic-era composer of Jewish extraction, best known for his opera Jocelyn. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1863 where he studied under Henri Vieuxtemps (violin) and Napoléon Henri Reber (harmony). Godard composed eight operas, five symphonies, two piano and two violin concertos, string quartets, sonatas for violin and piano, piano pieces and etudes, and more than a hundred songs. He was opposed to the music of Richard Wagner and more in tune with those of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Godard

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Chloë Hanslip (born 28 September 1987 in Guildford, Surrey) is a British classical violinist. Chloë studied for ten years with the Russian pedagogue Zakhar Bron. She has also worked with Christian Tetzlaff, Robert Masters, Ida Haendel, Salvatore Accardo, and Gerhard Schulz. At the age of 13, she was the youngest recording artist ever to be signed to Warner Classics UK, with her debut album released in 2001 to great critical acclaim. Hanslip has received numerous awards for her playing, including the Classical Brits Young Performer award in 2003. She plays a 1737 Guarneri del Gesu violin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlo%C3%AB_Hanslip

http://www.chloehanslip.com/bio.htm

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