Recording of the Week, Isabelle Faust performs Britten's Violin Concerto

After two previous albums exploring baroque repertoire by Locatelli, Pisendel and others, Isabelle Faust jumps ahead a few centuries with a new recording of music by Benjamin Britten, ably supported by the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under conductor Jakub Hrůša in a poignant account of the composer's Violin Concerto.

As I noted a couple of years ago when reviewing her recording of music by Kurtág, Faust's technical prowess seemingly knows no bounds, and this is very much in evidence here too. The double-stopped harmonics at the end of the first movement are notoriously tricky, but such is her control that she manages to make them sound exquisitely calm. Her performance is similarly awe-inspiring in the formidable cadenza that leads into the last movement.

The fast-paced second movement keeps both soloist and orchestra on their toes, but Hrůša ensures that everyone rises to the challenge marvellously. Faust is fearless in the endless cascade of notes (not least another bout of furious double-stopping), and the orchestra matches her every step of the way, especially a rather awkward passage timing-wise for tuba and two piccolos. There is plenty of vivid playing from the orchestra throughout, with pleasingly propulsive trumpets, bassoons, and horns. It's exceptionally balanced, so that all the fine details of Britten's inventive orchestration can be heard perfectly.

I think the highlight of this performance, though, has to be the final Passacaglia, from sober trombones at the start of the movement to a closing section that enables Faust to display her beautifully sweet tone to full effect. The music here is ostensibly hopeful yet tinged with doubt and uncertainty, encapsulated by the violin's concluding series of trills between F natural and G flat that leave us not quite sure whether we have reached a serene repose in D major or a more doubtful feeling of D minor.

The concerto was premiered in 1940 by Spanish violinist Antonio Brosa, and so it is fitting that Faust should include two other works by Britten written for him. The first of these is Reveille, a concert study for violin and piano, for which Faust is joined by her frequent recording partner, Alexander Melnikov. It's a charming work: with its unusual tempo marking of "pigro" (sluggish or lazy), it good-naturedly teases the fact that Brosa was apparently not an early riser, and so, with its multiple yawning portamentos and glissandos, the violin takes quite a while to 'wake up'. While the piano part remains almost implacably unchanged, as the piece progresses the violinist becomes ever busier and more involved, and Faust demonstrates once again that she can commandingly despatch anything thrown at her.

If Reveille was more about the violin than the piano, then Melnikov gets his chance to shine in the Suite for Violin and Piano, Op. 6, notably in the Moto perpetuo movement where he proves an equal partner to Faust's virtuosity. The more contemplative lullaby is delicate yet impassioned, with both players drawing in the listener with their hushed intensity. The suite ends with a delightful account of the waltz, with just the right amount of cheeky swagger and playfulness.

The final work on the album is actually a world premiere recording of two pieces for violin, viola and piano, written in 1929 whilst the composer was still at school in Norfolk, but not published until 2013 for the Britten centenary. It would perhaps be unreasonable to expect one so young to have found his compositional voice so early, and indeed it is noticeably different stylistically to the rest of the works presented here, sounding to me in places more like something by Webern. That said, it is nevertheless an impressively confident work, particularly when given a performance as expressive as this. The viola part is taken by Faust's brother, Boris, and the blend of the two string instruments is sublime. It makes for a fascinating conclusion to an album that, as always, exemplifies Faust's violinistic majesty.