Dong-Suk Kang - Sibelius: Violin Concerto (1990)

The Sibelius violin concerto is a wonderful piece. And because great violin concertos don't grow on trees the work has been recorded by all of the top violinists. Dong-Suk Kang may not be as famous as Joshua Bell, but he handles this work with great skill. Scandanavian music broods a little and Kang has just the right hint of melancholgy. His technique to my ears is excellent and Naxos engineers have created a clean sound. The Slovakian orchestra holds its end up nicely.

The bonus are four shorter works for violin and orchestra by Scandanavian contemporaries of Sibelius. Most recordings of the Sibelius are paired with another war horse which is fine unless, like me, you find you don't need 12 copies of the Beethoven. Anway, the works on this disc are all splendid in the same brooding way that the Sibelius is and almost certainly will be unfamiliar. I strongly recommend this CD.