Lisa Batiashvili, Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Visions of Prokofiev (2018) CD-Rip

This release by the Georgian-German violinist Lisa Batiashvili is infused with history: in Hamburg Batiashvili studied with Mark Lubotsky, a student of David Oistrakh and likely someone who picked up a good deal of lore indirectly from Prokofiev himself. Furthermore, there are three highly enjoyable violin-and-orchestra transcriptions of familiar Prokofiev pieces by Batiashvili's father, Tamás Batiashvili. The title Visions of Prokofiev might lead you to expect a few more short pieces, but otherwise the album is given over to Prokofiev's pair of violin concertos. The Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63, written in Spain, is the stronger of the pair: Batiashvili is a gifted, warm melodist (sample the first movement), and the collaboration with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Yannick Nézet-Séguin is especially happy here: the work is written for moderate-sized forces, and Nézet-Séguin reveals all manner of small details flowing under and around Batiashvili's melodic line. Batiashvili is confident in the rhythms of the sharper-edged Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19, although here some may prefer a violinist with more bite. Your mileage may vary, but in any event this is a satisfying Prokofiev album that carries on a long tradition.