Edwards/Sibelius release receives 4* Scotsman review
25 November 2011
TWO violin concertos: one well known, the other less so. The common factor is violinist Adele Anthony, whose remarkable presence and virtuosity gives equal lustre to the concertos of Sibelius and Ross Edwards, performed here with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under Arvo Volmer. Edwards is Australian – one of a current Antipodean crop that have rejected modernism for a sweet-scented but meaty eclecticism. There are the pastoral strains of Vaughan Williams, the citrus-like harmonies of Walton and the edginess of Bartók, sewn together with a quasi-minimalist thread. The concerto (premiered last year at the Edinburgh International Festival) is titled Maninyas, Edwards’s own term for his so-called “dance-chant” style. Anthony delivers its innocent charm convincingly. The transition into the Sibelius is remarkably smooth and pertinent, and the playing is no less entrancing. KENNETH WALTON
