Elgar: La Capricieuse, Op. 17

“Clein demonstrated the lyricism on which she’s building a solid reputation, her instrument … blossoming into a rich, burnished voice. Threads became soaring melodies, fragments made textural sense.” The Independent

“Natalie Clien's opening statement is confident and clean: this is an Elgar with pace and portamento, but rather thin on poetry. The upside is the delightful selection of salon pieces at the end of this disc. In the impish La capricieuse and the touching Sospiri, we glimpse the mature, distinctive artist.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2007 ****

“Not since the emergence of Vengerov and Repin has such an exciting young violinist come our way.” International Record Review

“Capuçon’s violin transcriptions rarely disappoint. If it’s not his fervour that amazes, it’s his delicacy. Elgar’s La Capricieuse is a melting wonder, Prokofiev’s Masks a bracing stomp. The programming sprinkles the firecrackers with pensive surprises (Roxana’s Song from Szymanowski), waltzing Strauss, and the finale is unusually reflective – two Schumann songs. A delight.” The Times, 18th April 2008 ****

“It seems there is nothing Capuçon cannot do. He maintains the same level of tonal purity and lustrousness at all dynamic levels across all four strings… His phrasing and timing is immaculate, his intonation ear-ringingly true and - especially important in this repertoire - his exquisitely subtle use of portamento is such as to rival even Kreisler and Heifetz.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2008 *****