Augustin Hadelich is quite comfortable in the violin's standard repertoire, though in his recordings he has sometimes paired a well-known concerto with one that is less familiar, e.g., matching the
Sibelius Violin Concerto with Concentric Paths by
Thomas Adès, showing an adventurous side to his programming. However, for this 2017 release on LPO, he plays the famous Violin Concerto in D major by
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, backed with a perennial concert favorite, the Symphonie espagnole of
Édouard Lalo, two powerhouse Romantic works that need no introduction. These live performances, with
Vasily Petrenko conducting the
Tchaikovsky and
Omer Meir Wellber conducting the
Lalo, are unabashed showstoppers, and the response of the audience in London's Southbank Centre shows how effective these performances were.
Hadelich takes a fairly relaxed approach to the barline, and his affable inflections and playing with phrasing show a seasoned virtuoso at home with the music and unafraid of where it will take him. The extraordinary sound of this recording puts
Hadelich front and center, and there's no loss of orchestral details in the meticulous engineering, so every note is fully audible. While there's no shortage of recordings of the
Tchaikovsky or the
Lalo, this recording is worth considering for
Hadelich's highly personal and personable performance, and the satisfying richness of the
London Philharmonic's sound.