The next concert I attended was a great tonic after Sarah Chang's very rushed Bruch Concerto No 1. The soloist on 8 Nov 2008 was James Ehnes - a very musical and talented violinist who had played at DFP before. Since the release of his first CD on Telarc of the Paganini 24 Caprices, his musical career has gone from strength to strength. The conductor for this concert was Gilbert Varga - son of the famous violinist Tibor Varga. Varga was making his DFP debut.
Humperdinck's Overture (Hansel & Gretel) was the curtain raiser to Ehnes' superb interpretation of the romantic Glazunov Violin Concerto. Playing the Marsick Strad (by courtesy of wealth philanthropist Dr David L. Fulton), he gave a marvellous rendition of Glazunov's work - secure in its execution, played with the requisite warmth and romanticism and accurate in technique. A similarly excellent rendition of Ravel's Tzigane followed after this.
The second half belonged to maestro Varga - who might have a lower profile than his illustrious father, but should be much better known in the conducting circles. Taught by the famous Sergiu Celibidache, he led the MPO in two entrancing performances of Ravel's Mother Goose and La Valse. Now, I am not a keen fan of French music in general but when Ravel is played the way Varga did with his commanding but yet elegant manner, I sat glued to the magic spells that maestro Varga conjured up. A definite conductor and soloist combination to invite back to the DFP in coming seasons!
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