Daniel Hope, Simon Mulligan - Elgar, Walton: Sonatas for Violin & Piano / Finzi: Elegy (2001)

The coupling of the violin sonatas by Elgar and Walton is a most satisfying one, not unique on disc, and one which provides fascinating parallels. The Finzi Elegy is a very apt makeweight, the only surviving movement from a projected Violin Sonata written in a hectic period for the composer at the beginning of the Second World War.
The Elgar elicits a performance of high contrasts both in dynamic range – Hope uses daringly extreme pianissimos – and in flexibility of tempo.
So in the first movement the opening at an urgent speed gives way to a very broad reading of the second subject, hushed and musingly introspective.
Yet such freedom of expression goes with deep concentration, so that the structure is still firmly held together. In the finale, Hope conveys an improvisational quality, again using the widest dynamic range, finely matched by Mulligan.
With Hope's sweet, finely focused violin tone beautifully caught in the Nimbus recording – full and warm but less reverberant than some – and well balanced against the piano, this set makes an outstanding recommendation.