Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61

Here’s a dramatic and deeply felt performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. With Aurora Orchestra’s well-established practice of playing from memory, its players deliver sharp ensemble and rapid changes in dynamic. Even when playing quietly, there’s an almost conspiratorial urgency to their sound; strings are highly articulated, while trumpets and horns blaze forth in almost Baroque-style brilliance. Violinist Nicola Benedetti enters with playing that is gracious, warm-hearted and spontaneous, yet also forward-driving. But there is poignancy, too, when about 10 minutes into the track her violin becomes more inward, softly playing a minor key version of the opening theme accompanied by a doleful pair of bassoons. With the cadenza, inspired by (rather than adapted from) the one Beethoven wrote for his revised version for piano and orchestra, Benedetti duets joyously with the timpani for a while. That dance-like episode seems to foretell the finale’s lively skipping rhythms. In between comes the slow movement, brisker than most, although Benedetti’s tender playing and Aurora’s finely balanced woodwind more than justify pushing the tempos a little.