Rachel Barton Pine

If there’s ever been a natural set of companion pieces for a recording, it’s the Beethoven and Clement violin concertos. The two composers were close friends and even penned their concertos in the same key (D major). A virtuoso violinist, Franz Clement (1780–1842) had the fortune of living through one of classical’s most prolific periods. The overshadowing maestro picked the Austrian fiddler to premiere his concerto in 1806 (supposedly without practice)—one year after Clement debuted his own as an opening act for Ludwig’s Eroica.

History has overlooked Clement—his concerto’s never been recorded, let alone publicly performed, in 200 years. But now the two local forces of Rachel Barton Pine and Cedille Records finally give the man some due in this wonderful two-disc set.

Very little ground is broken in the Clement concerto, but there’s a Viennese elegance in its clean, straightforward orchestral writing and pretty instrumental lyricism. Pine plays so convincingly and assuredly, as if she memorized this as a toddler. When one violin splits from the others for a solo, the tone can often be scratchy and cold. But Pine’s bowing contains real warmth that’s perfectly suited for this late-Classical-period material.If the Clement concerto merely pleasantly passes time, the Beethoven defines its time—and Pine eloquently captures the grandeur. The Chicagoan first encountered the piece at six years old while watching Itzhak Perlman on PBS. Frankly, she strikes a sweeter tone than her idol, weaving her own entertaining cadenzas, imaginatively drawing from earlier themes and molding them into variations. José Serebrier conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with both power and finesse.