Stuart MacRae: Violin Concerto

Stuart MacRae's Violin Concerto, commissioned for the 2001 BBC Proms, is performed here by soloist Christian Tetzlaff with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under its chief conductor Ilan Volkov; it Is coupled with Stirling Choruses, written for the brass section of the BBC SSO, which portrays the “dark and foreboding” Stirling Castle.

These are works are joined by Motus, a processional for 6 instruments; and Two Scenes from the Death of Count Ugolino, for voice and instrumental ensemble - based on a gruesome section of Dante’s Inferno, and featuring mezzo-soprano Loré Lixenberg.

"The premiere of Stuart MacRae's Violin Concerto at the 2001 Proms cemented his reputation and transformed him at the age of 25 from a hugely promising talent into a composer of real stature and maturity. Christian Tetzlaff is one of a number of violinists to have taken the Concerto into their repertory, and his performance on this disc is dazzling. He takes every technical challenge in his stride, and perfectly articulates both the fragile, constantly changing relationship between the soloist and the orchestra and MacRae's intriguing four-movement plan, which reverses concerto convention and sites its emotional centre of gravity on the fiercly eloquent finale."
BBC Music Magazine 2006