Subito (Grieg, Lutosławski, Wieniawski...)

Chronique

Korean-born, English-trained violinist Julia Hwang qualifies as a prodigy, having begun conservatory studies at seven, made her concert debut at nine, and shown up all over British television as a teen, playing among other things the Vaughan Williams chestnut The Lark Ascending. There is no question that this work plays to Hwang's strengths: an unusual purity of tone in the high range and a delightful liquid melodic style. It's good, though, that Hwang and accompanist Charles Matthews push themselves slightly beyond Hwang's comfort zone, with the rarely heard work by Lutoslawski that gives the album its title and the Fantaisie brillante sur des motifs de l'Opéra Faust de Gounod, Op. 20. Of the major Romantic violin showpieces this may be the one that lies most easily under Hwang's fingers, and that's good: picking material in which you are confidently in command is part of charisma, which from all reports Hwang has in abundance. Sample the opening Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45, of Grieg to see where Hwang was at age 21, when this album was released in 2017. Hear the incredibly graceful theme beginning around 2:20 in the first movement, and also note that the finale has a dutiful quality that rather lacks the required folkish zip. And remember that Hwang was, at the time of recording, still a student in London, and that the album decidedly presages big things.
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