A James Ehnes concert is a guarantee of technical excellence. This concert on 27 November 2010 with Claus Peter Flor and the MPO was a great follow-up from his previous showing here with the Glazunov VC.
As one can hear from his recent superb recordings (like the Paganini 24 Caprices on Onyx, Mendelssohn VC (with Ashkenazy) & the Octet as well as the violin encores played on the Fulton collection), Ehnes' name on a concert programme ensures technically perfect playing, superb and classy violin ("Heifetz-like") playing, a warm rounded tone and an excellent understanding of the idiom of the piece.
The Prokofiev VC 2 fared very well indeed - and received one of the best interpretations ever in the DFP Hall. It even surpassed a previous Boris Belkin concert. My only grouse is that the soloists that the MPO and DFP invite collaborate on giving audiences here repeat performances of the same core orchestral and solo repertoire. Why can't we have a premiere performance of the Khachaturian VC, Kabalevsky VC or even the Miaskovsky VC instead?
With the excellent Ehnes performance of the Prokofiev VC 2, what followed after the interval - Shostakovich's Symphony No 8 fell short of the pre-interval performing standards. It was well played despite the MPO musicians coming to the piece probably for the first time.
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