“Full marks to Nimbus for variety. The danger is that three such different composers, combined in a way you'd never expect in a concert, will cancel each other out. Fortunately, the performances are strong enough – even when heard in close succession – to justify the enterprise, and the recordings are no less successful in the way they capture the intimacy of tone characteristics of all four compositions.
A textual point of some interest emerges in the earlier of the Schnittke works, the Sonata. Usually, the harpsichord functions as the violinist's alter ego throughout, but Daniel Hope, with Schnittke's agreement, has the keyboardist move from harpsichord to piano from the final stages of the second movement onwards. The desiccated harpsichord sound may be preferable in the third movement, but the change is certainly justified in the finale, and adds an extra dimension to a commendably unexaggerated account of this turbulent score.
The early Weill Violin Concerto can easily sprawl and sound too earnest for its own good.
Here there's an appropriate fluency; excessive gravity is avoided. Hope is able to project the required authority, especially in the cadenza, and although some might prefer a more forward placement for the soloist, the excellent qualities of his playing are no less appealing. As for Takemitsu's song of farewell for the film-maker Andrei Tarkovsky, the music is a model of how to balance emotional restraint and expressive warmth, and the performance does it justice.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
“An exceptional soloist ... the young star violinist Daniel Hope, who is already launched on a major professional career ... (possesses) real lyrical gifts and an enviably fluent technique. Remember the name” The Independent on Sunday
