Choose artist...
Home   >   Projects   >   Beethoven Violin Concerto w/Aurora Orch, Collon
Nicola Benedetti

Beethoven Violin Concerto w/Aurora Orch, Collon

Decca Classics
Release Date: April 11, 2025

Press Release

Read press

Artist Details

Read bio

Tour Dates

View

Website

Visit
MEET THE PROS | Nicola Benedetti | Interview | VC '20 Questions'
1 Movement I  
2 Movement II  
3 Movement III  
Show all tracks
Hide

Benedetti further comments, “The solo line of this concerto was born out of an improvisatory spirit, with a lightness of touch soon to be out of fashion, with a virtuosity of integrity and poise. Many of us violinists grew up with such unhealthy reverence towards Beethoven, which soon turns into fear and an unnatural approach to his music. It can damage our ability to notice and embrace his humour, his wildness, and perhaps more importantly, the depth and power of his relationship to improvisation.”  

Beethoven’s original piano version of the first movement cadenza was rearranged and adapted by Petr Limonov. In the first movement, the music is based on the cadenza that Beethoven wrote for his own arrangement of this Violin Concerto as a Piano Concerto. Beethoven approached it in a truly revolutionary way by incorporating a timpani part into the texture, turning his cadenza into a dialogue between the pianist and the timpanist. Benedetti and Limonov felt that attempts to transcribe Beethoven’s bravura broken octaves and chromatic scales for violin in a literal way sounded too forceful for the otherwise lyrical and inward-looking nature of the piece. It gradually became clear that the cadenza needed re-writing, being true to Beethoven’s spirit, but not necessarily the letter. Usage of the timpani in a solo cadenza was as unusual at that time as it is now, so the harmonic progression leading up to it had to be unusual as well. Beethoven went around the full circle of fifths in a daring brush-stroke, employing highly sophisticated enharmonic techniques in a very subtle way as if to deliberately confuse the listener, leading him or her away from the established classical sense of tonality and preparing the ground for the timpani entry. Having started the cadenza with the same B-flat major chord as in Beethoven’s version, Benedetti and Limonov then emulated that unusual harmonic progression on the violin, albeit with a texture very different from Beethoven’s piano writing, allowing them to emphasise the element of surprise at the point of timpani entry, played on this recording by Henry Baldwin. It ensured that Beethoven’s original proportions stayed intact without making the violin writing resemble a transcription of a piano piece.  

  • Nicola Benedetti leads, to save Edinburgh International Festival / CLASSIC fM
    Posted At: January 10, 2025
    The famous violinist and director of the Edinburgh Festival has warned that arts cuts put the festival’s reputation at risk.CLASSIC fM's Will Padfield writes….Nicola Benedetti, the Grammy-winning classical violinist who became the director of the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) in 2022, told The Guardian that she feared the creative arts that made up the festival were at risk due to repeated funding ...

  • Nicola Benedetti appointed honorary president of Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland / udiscovermusic.
    Posted At: June 30, 2022
    udiscovermusic. - Sharon Kelly writes…..Grammy award-winning violinist Nicola Benedetti has been appointed Honorary President of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.She joins an esteemed company of Honorary Presidents of the institution which has included Ralph Vaughan Williams, Dame Judi Dench and, most recently, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, producer of musicals including The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miséra...

  • Nicola Benedetti dispenses energy and joy on 'Baroque' / LEDEVOIR
    Posted At: August 21, 2021

    LEDEVOIR's Christopher Huss writes......Hats off to violinist Nicola Benedetti for having approached with so much guts a repertoire where the vast majority of traditionally trained violinists fail! Among the great soloists sensitive to the baroque idiom, one could quote up to now in particular Isabelle Faust, Viktoria Mullova, Christian Tetzlaff or Thomas Zehetmair. The simultaneous publication of vo...

  • Nicola Benedetti - Baroque is CLASSIC fM 'Album of the Week'
    Posted At: July 20, 2021

    Decca Classics is thrilled to present a new Baroque album from Grammy award-winning violinist Nicola Benedetti. This is the first album Benedetti has released on a period set-up including gut strings, and she is joined by a leading group of freelance baroque musicians, forming the Benedetti Baroque Orchestra for the very first time. The album features a selection of concerti...

  • Nicola Benedetti launches 'Baroque Virtual Sessions' / udiscovermusic.
    Posted At: May 24, 2021

    udiscovermusic.- Sharon Kelly writes....Grammy award-winning violinist Nicola Benedetti will release her new album Baroque on 16 July 2021. This is the first album Nicola Benedetti has released on a period set-up including gut strings, and she is joined by the Benedetti Baroque Orchestra, a leading group of freelance baroque musicians, for the first time. Baroque features a selection of concerti by V...

  • Nicola Benedetti really shines on Elgar 'Violin Concerto' / Classical Music Sentinel
    Posted At: August 1, 2020

    For a composer known to epitomize the "British" style and sound of orchestral music, the Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 by Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) sounds more like a Russian work in a Glazunov sort of way. During its lyrical passages in particular it exudes a melancholy typical of the Slavic temperament. And it's within these introspective moments, especially at the recapitulation of the ope...

  • BBC Proms 'fantasy' season combines performances including Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Nicola Benedetti / udiscovermusic.
    Posted At: July 16, 2020

    Classical music festivals around the world have had to be postponed and cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic – and the historic BBC Proms is no exception. BBC Proms ‘fantasy' season combines archive concerts and live performances by artists including Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Nicola Benedetti. In its 125th year, the organisers have announced a special ‘fantasy' season whi...

  • Nicola Benedetti - Elgar Violin Concerto is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: June 8, 2020

    Elgar's Violin Concerto is considered to be one of the most technically demanding violin concertos and is a marathon for the soloist at just under an hour in length. Nicola Benedetti performs this masterpiece with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. Pianist Petr Liminov joins Benedetti for three short works by Elgar for violin and piano: Sospiri, Salut d'Amour (Elgar's first...

  • Nicola Benedetti releases new 'Elgar' album / udiscovermusic.
    Posted At: May 15, 2020

    Today Grammy award-winning violinist Nicola Benedetti digitally released her new album Elgar. The recording explores music by Britain's best loved composer, Edward Elgar, and features his vast Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 coupled with three short works for violin and piano: Salut d'Amour, Sospiri and Chanson de Nuit. "She takes on an epic and makes magic" – The Times Elgar's Violin Co...

  • Wynton Marsalis' GRAMMY winning violin music is 'Out of the Box' on 99.5WCRB
    Posted At: February 7, 2020

    Jazz legend Wynton Marsalis weaves multiple music traditions together and crafts an entirely unique Violin Concerto and Fiddle Dance Suite for classical violinist Nicola Benedetti. The album features the Philadelphia Orchestra & Cristian Macelaru 99.5WCRB particularly enjoy the Blues movement from the Violin Concerto, as well as As the Wind Goes and Nicola's Strathsbey from the Fiddle Dance Suite...

  • Marsalis/Benedetti wins 2020 GRAMMY Award 'Best Classical Instrumental Solo' for 'Violin Concerto; Fiddle Dance Suite'
    Posted At: January 27, 2020

    Nicola Benedetti's Decca Classics album features premiere recordings of two works written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin. Benedetti performs Violin Concerto in D with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Măcelaru who has collaborated with the violinist to perform the work six times. The concerto w...

  • Nicola Benedetti - Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto, Fiddle Dance Suite makes WCRB '5 albums to watch at the 2020 GRAMMY Awards'
    Posted At: January 23, 2020

    The 2020 GRAMMY Awards air this Sunday night! One of the GRAMMY-nominated classical albums we've had our eye on this year is Marsalis: Violin Concerto, Fiddle Dance Suite / Nicola Benedetti, Cristian Macelaru, Philadelphia Orchestra, Nominated for: Best Classical Instrumental Solo; Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Why we love it: In our Instant Replay: 006, Chris Voss wrote: "Such a cool ...

  • Nicola Benedetti & Angelique Kidjo will perform at 2020 GRAMMY premiere ceremony / GRAMMY.com
    Posted At: January 19, 2020

    The Recording Academy announced that preceding the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast, the Premiere Ceremony will be hosted by two-time GRAMMY winner and current nominee Imogen Heap and feature a number of performances by current GRAMMY nominees. Currently slated to perform are classical violinist Nicola Benedetti, jazz legend Chick Corea, folk music supergroup I'm With Her, West African sensati...

  • Do you feel physically at ease when playing ? / Violinist.com
    Posted At: January 4, 2020

    Playing the violin requires an awkward set of physical motions, and sometimes that can get in the way of "feeling the music" and of creating a sense of "flow" for your listeners. Nicola Benedetti, in an interview this week about her new Benedetti Foundation, said that one of her goals in devising curriculum for students is to help cultivate their sense of physical freedom. "If you don't experienc...

  • Nicola Benedetti launches music workshop in Glasgow / BBC
    Posted At: January 4, 2020

    Nicola Benedetti is staging a series of workshops in Glasgow and Dundee. Benedetti has launched her own educational music programme for children in Glasgow. More than 350 youngsters travelled from across the country to the city's Royal Concert Hall to take lessons from one of Scotland's most recognisable musicians. The event is part of a series of workshops being staged across the UK. The Ayrshir...

  • Nicola Benedetti on her collaboration with Wynton Marsalis / WFMT: Chicago
    Posted At: December 15, 2019

    Classical music, jazz, Celtic folksongs, and funk - these genres make up just a few of the words in Wynton Marsalis' musical language. The Grammy-winning trumpeter and composer has explored a range of repertoire throughout his career. Marsalis' curiosity inspired violinist Nicola Benedetti, and in turn, her dream of premiering a new concerto.  Benedetti and Marsalis' collaboration is highlighted...

  • Nicola Benedetti - Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto, Fiddle Dance Suite selected for 2020 GRAMMY nomination
    Posted At: November 20, 2019

    Nicola Benedetti - Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto, Fiddle Dance Suite selected for 2019 GRAMMY nomination in both 'Best Contemporary Classical Composition' & 'Best Classical Instrumental Solo' category. Nicola Benedetti's Decca Classics album features premiere recordings of two works written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle...

  • Nicola Benedetti's latest album is completely devoted to the music of Wynton Marsalis / 90.5WUOL
    Posted At: October 14, 2019

    Violinist Nicola Benedetti's latest album is completely devoted to the music of Wynton Marsalis, and two big works written specifically for her. Benedetti's new album on Decca Classics features Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin.  Benedetti performs Violin Concerto in D with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Măcelaru who has collab...

  • 5 will win a signed Nicola Benedetti - Marsalis Violin Concerto CD / enter The Violin Channel
    Posted At: October 2, 2019

    To help celebrate the international release of violinist Nicola Benedetti's new album ‘Wynton Marsalis Violin Concerto', The Violin Channel in connection with Decca Classics is this week giving away 5 fresh-off-the-press autographed CD copies. Recorded with conductor Cristian Măcelaru and the Philadelphia Orchestra, the disc features Wynton Marsalis‘ newly-premiered Violin Concerto in D ...

  • Nicola Benedetti chats with 95.5KHFM about new Wynton Marsalis recording
    Posted At: September 25, 2019

    Nicola Benedetti's new album on Decca Classics features premiere recordings of two works written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin. Benedetti performs Violin Concerto in D with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Macelaru who has collaborated with the violinist to perform the work six times. The concerto...

  • Nicola Benedetti Spokane PR
    Posted At: September 24, 2019
    Nicola Benedetti's new album on Decca Classics features premiere recordings of two works written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin. Benedetti performs Violin Concerto in D with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Macelaru who has collaborated with the violinist to perform the work six times. The concerto was co...

  • Nicola Benedetti - Marsalis: VC, FDS is the WRTI: 'Classical Album of the Week'
    Posted At: September 18, 2019

    Jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis writes about reconnecting with the Anglo-Celtic roots of Afro-American music in his Violin Concerto in D, written for Scottish violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti, and recorded with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Macelaru. The celebration of community and joining of different musical traditions also enriches his Fiddle Dance Suite for solo ...

  • Nicola Benedetti talks 'Marsalis' with Radio Purdue
    Posted At: September 11, 2019

    New sounds and releases featuring Zuill Bailey, Nicola Benedetti, and Arcomusical in Brahms, Marsalis, and Eric Cole!  Listen via PRX Released on Decca, Nicola Benedetti's new album, featuring the violin concertos of Glazunov and Shostakovich is a journey between two different, yet connected, concertos for the violin. Glazunov's glittering 1904 work is separated from his pupil Shostako...

  • 90.5WGUC chats with Nicola Benedetti about Wynton Marsalis collaboration
    Posted At: September 10, 2019
    Did you hear Wynton Marsalis' new violin concerto that he wrote for Nicola Benedetti recently on New at Noon? If not, the new Decca Classics album features premiere recordings of two works written especially for Benedetti by Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin. Benedetti performs Violin Concerto in D with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Ma...

  • Ear To Ear: CapRadio hosts are loving Ma, Benedetti & Kanneh-Mason this September
    Posted At: September 3, 2019

    Each month, our music hosts put their heads together to create a playlist of the pieces that have been on their personal heavy rotation to help you get to know them a little better. This month, we have an eclectic mix of music from near and far, old and new from Classical Hosts Jennifer Reason, Victor Forman and Kevin Doherty. Reason takes us into the mountains of Peru with some music played on a traditi...

  • Nicola Benedetti discusses new Marsalis recording with classical radio
    Posted At: August 21, 2019

    Nicola Benedetti's new album on Decca Classics features premiere recordings of two works written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin. Benedetti performs Violin Concerto in D with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Măcelaru who has collaborated with the violinist to perform the work six times. The con...

  • Nicola Benedetti - Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto, Fiddle Dance Suite is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: July 26, 2019

    Violinist Nicola Benedetti's new album features premiere recordings of two works written especially for her by Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite. In the concerto, Benedetti performs with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Cristian Măcelaru, who has collaborated with her on the work six times. It explores Benedetti's and Marsalis' common musical heritage in Celtic, Anglo, and...

  • Virtuosity and sophistication as Nicola Benedetti directs two Mozart violin concertos with SCO / The Herald - Scotland
    Posted At: April 15, 2019

    Having Nicola Benedetti not only perform in but direct two of Mozart's Violin Concertos was a treat, allowing as it does that intimate relationship between soloist and chamber orchestra. Benedetti always manages to make it look like everyone is having an effortlessly lovely time on stage, but she also led with elegant confidence, tempering admirable touches of character – particularly through ...

  • Make-A-Wish UK grants Emily's wish for violin masterclass with Nicola Benedetti
    Posted At: August 1, 2018

    Emily has been playing violin since she was seven. Her wish was to have a mini masterclass with classical violinist Nicola Benedetti, MBE. Make-A-Wish UK granted Emily's wish and the 2 violinists spent time together at the Royal Albert Hall. Nicola gave lots of hints and tips before they played one of Emily's favourite pieces of music together. Emily said, "It's such an incredible experience....

  • Nicola Benedetti speaks with 'The National' ahead of Abu Dhabi Festival
    Posted At: February 19, 2018

    When Nicola Benedetti burst on to the classical music scene as a teenager, the industry thought it had finally cracked the elusive code to commercial success. The hardworking Scottish violinist established herself as a young and popular virtuoso with a string of high-profile performances: these included her debut appearance with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra as a 13-year-old, performing in front ...

  • Worthing Symphony opens 91st season with Nicola Benedetti / Sussex Express - 10 best this week
    Posted At: July 7, 2017

    The Worthing Symphony Orchestra's 91st season opens on Monday with a concert featuring Nicola Benedetti, one of the most sought-after violinists of her generation. Spokeswoman Jennie Osborne said: "Nicola plays the magnificent First Violin Concerto by Dmitri Shostakovich – a dramatic and engaging work by a Russian composer whose music speaks with such clarity of emotion, beauty and power. Nicola ha...

  • Nicola Benedetti receives 2016 queen's medal for music / The Strad - CLASSIC fM
    Posted At: May 24, 2017

    Violinist Nicola Benedetti has been awarded The Queen's Medal for Music 2016. Established in 2005 at the suggestion of composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who at that time was Master of The Queen's Music, the UK medal is awarded annually to ‘an outstanding individual or group of musicians who have had a major influence on the musical life of the nation'. Benedetti, who was presented with...

  • Nicola Benedetti with RSO in Bruch and Brahms / Violinist.com reviews
    Posted At: March 21, 2017

    Nicola Benedetti performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 and the Brahms with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. here are some reviews Palm Beach Daily News: "Soloist Nicola Benedetti brought her finest violin playing, from her superior handling of the soaring runs and the numerous challenging double stops to the gorgeous tone created in every note." Palm Beach Daily News: "Benedetti's mus...

  • Nicola Benedetti - Shostakovich & Glazunov / Post-Bulletin review
    Posted At: March 14, 2017

    Two extremes of the Russian concerto repertoire come together on this album, and Shostakovich wins. His Violin Concerto No. 1, perfectly described in the program notes as "coruscating," was composed just after World War II, premiered almost a decade later, and it's a miniature of all the composer's best music -- dark and profound, absurd and charming, intellectual but intensely musical....

  • Nicola Benedetti concert included in first ever - UK Live Music Census / BT.com
    Posted At: March 11, 2017

    Yes, a Nicola Benedetti concert will be included in the survey for the The first ever live music census to be carried out across UK  TODAY, Thursday March 9. An "army of music lovers" will take to Britain's streets today to carry out the world's first live music census. For 24 hours from noon on Thursday, volunteers will track performances in cities across the country from lone buskers ...

  • Nicola Benedetti solos after dark in St. Paul's Cathedral / CNN VR
    Posted At: March 7, 2017

    Violinist Nicola Benedetti is one of the most sought after violinists of her generation. Her ability to captivate audiences with her innate musicianship and dynamic presence, coupled with her wide appeal as a high profile advocate for classical music, has made her one of the most influential classical artists of today. With concerto performances at the heart of her career, Nicola is in much demand wi...
Go to artist details