Eldbjørg Hemsings highly-acclaimed recent recording début is here followed by a programme featuring the two Czech composers Antonin Dvoák and Josef Suk. Both studied the violin, which makes it somewhat surprising that Dvoáks Concerto and Suks Fantasy are their only large-scale concertante works for the instrument. Commenting on her choice of repertoire, Eldbjørg Hemsing remembers how her brother used to play the Dvoák concerto over and over again in her childhood. This awakened a curiosity about the work and its composer which later led to her discovery of Suks music. She became fascinated by the eloquence of the Czech idiom that the two composers share, despite their many differences in expression and style. The disc closes with an arrangement for violin and orchestra of what is possibly Suks best-known piece, Liebeslied ('Love Song') for piano solo. In these warmly scored works, Eldbjørg Hemsing is supported by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra (formerly known as the Royal Flemish Philharmonic) under Alan Buribayev.

Review
A splendid combination of purity and sweeping, Heifetz-like intensity. --The Strad December 2018 Edition