James Ehnes - French Showpieces (Concert Francais) (2001)

Originally heard Saint-Saens' "Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28," with Yoav Talmi conducting the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and James Ehnes as the featured artist for violin on our local classical music FM radio station while driving home from work. This trip, normally punctuated with good classical music, rarely makes me pull over to the side of the road to concentrate on one of the station's selections. However, in this case the music did just that! Ehnes and his violin perform the "Rondo" -- a repertoire workhorse for violinists -- with crystalline clarity and at the same time with richness and depth. His technique is precise and careful; each note stands alone and in conjunction with every other note, no cheating or sliding over the hard parts, no slurring of the passages --you have to hear his play to fully understand what this means. The truly car-stopping moment came about during the "Introduction" when his exquisite sensitivity to the plaintive and haunting feel of the first section of this piece occurred. I was stunned. In a nutshell, I highly recommend the entire CD, which contains the same brilliant collaboration between Talmi, Ehnes, and the Quebec Symphony Orchestra on other French pieces, but buy it if for no other reason than to hear Ehnes's "Rondo Capriccioso."