Anthony Marwood is the latest violinist to go into bat on behalf of Schumann's late and much criticised D minor Violin Concerto, a work that was completed in 1853, but withheld by Clara Schumann after her husband's death, and eventually performed in 1937. There's little Marwood can do to disguise the shortcomings of the solo writing, or the repetitions of the finale, but he and the BBC Scottish Symphony under Douglas Boyd go at it with a great deal of enthusiasm, with the solo line very prominent in the sound picture. The single-movement Phantasie in C is more cogent and rewarding, while the "Violin Concerto in A minor" is a real curiosity — the composer's 1853 recasting of his Cello Concerto in the same key. There's little rewriting involved, other than the obvious changes of register, so that the solo line tends to lie over the orchestral accompaniment rather than weaving its way through it, which does make the work seem less introspective than usual.
