Nigel Kennedy - Walton: Violin Concerto & Viola Concerto (1987 Reissue) (2004)

Like his teacher Yehudi Menuhin before him, the artist formerly known as "Nige" proves to be an uncommonly dab performer on the viola. He certainly has the full measure of the 26-year-old Walton's astonishingly mature concerto (unquestionably the finest of the composer's three), penetrating to its bitter-sweet core with devastating emotional candour. Similarly, Kennedy's bitingly intense reading of the yearningly lyrical Violin Concerto earns the warmest plaudits in its characterful involvement and edge-of-seat spontaneity. If Aston Villa's most famous fan doesn't quite match the technical wizardry and golden tone displayed by dedicatee Jascha Heifetz in both of his legendary versions (from 1940 with Sir Eugene Goossens and the Cincinatti Symphony Orchestra on Biddulph, or the 1950 recording with the composer directing the Philharmonia on mid-price RCA), his is a commanding presence none the less. Few living conductors can boast such impeccable Waltonian credentials as Andrè Previn, and he shapes both concertos to the manner born, whilst at the same time procuring playing of the highest quality from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. EMI's Abbey Road sonics are wonderfully ripe and true, and this is indeed a peach of a coupling. -- Andrew Achenbach