Chloë Hanslip, Kirk Trevor - Godard: Violin Concerto No. 2, Concerto Romantique, Scènes Poétiques (2008)

The combination of the violin works of Benjamin Godard and violinist Chloë Hanslip on an album is, in a way, quite a natural choice. Godard began his career as a child prodigy on the violin. He eventually turned his focus to composition and in his short lifespan churned out one piece after another, with opus numbers reaching well into the hundreds. His works for violin were among his most successful and were not subject to the same amount of criticism for rapidity and carelessness with which he sometimes composed. Like Godard, Hanslip began her life as a child prodigy. She managed to hold on to the momentum of her early career and is now a prominent figure on the world's concert stage. The brilliance and intensity of her playing immediately capture and maintain the listener's attention throughout what are likely to be relatively unknown compositions. From the deep, sultry reaches of her G string to the sparkling, piercing high notes on her E string, Hanslip is equipped with an impressive array of colors. The accompaniment provided by the Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra Kosice is noticeably less precise and nuanced, but Hanslip's beautiful interpretation of these deeply Romantic works more than makes up for any shortcomings in the orchestra.