/ discography at a glance

“I dedicate this album to DFO” writes Hope in the booklet, as the composer did to his friend and interpreter, David Fyodorovich Oistrakh. Invoking such an illustrious name in the context of these works might seem rash, especially for a non-Russian, but Hope proves a more than worthy successor to the great Ukrainian-born fiddler, Oistrakh.

The young British violinist appears to have emerged as if by stealth, without any of the hype that has accompanied the Kennedys, Hanslips and Benedettis, and he is proving to be the one with the most staying power and breadth of vision.

Both of Shostakovich’s violin concertos are dark, brooding works, the first kept under wraps from 1948 until after the death of Stalin (Oistrakh first played it publicly in 1955), when state disapproval of non-optimistic pieces was relaxed. No. 2 is, like most late Shostakovich, a death-obsessed work, “brightened” by the composer’s characteristically sardonic irony. With the composer’s son as his conductor and the BBCSO on top form, Hope gives both works full expressive measure.

Hugh Canning

As with his disc of Berg and Bitten concertos, Daniel Hope here delivers penetrating and intense performances. In the First Concerto he draws the listener into the atmosphere of each movement from the very outset...

It’s also typical of Hope that the cadenza emerges as a thoughtful symphonic development of motivic ideas rather than a gratuitous opportunity for technical wizardry.

Whilst marginally preferring Vengerov in the First Concerto, in the emotionally elusive Second Concerto it’s Hope who seems to probe further beneath the surface of this dark and desolate music, breathing new life into those familiar and misleadingly simplistic thematic patterns. Hope carefully maps out the dramatic plan of each movement making sure that in the opening Moderato sufficient tension is saved for the central climax and sustaining the line in the introvert Adagio. The slightly deliberate tempo taken by Hope and Maxim Shostakovich in the Finale serves to accentuate its anger and brutality. A very desirable release indeed.

Erik Levi

The First Violin Concerto is one of the pieces that seem to be benefitting from the extra attention of the Shostakovich centenary celebrations, though that does not make it any easier a piece to play. Musically and technically it remains elusive. It's a score that Shostakovich withheld until Stalin was dead, and its brooding first movement, demonic scherzo and portentous passacaglia, contrasting sharply with the forced high spirits of the finale, seem to demand extra-musical explanation.

Daniel Hope's impressive performance, with the composer's son Maxim conducting, can't explain that central enigma, but he certainly extracts the last drop of expressive weight out of its ideas.

Hope's technique is unflashily impeccable too, and he is equally at home in the sparer world of the Second Concerto, finished 19 years later in 1967.

Andrew Clements

Dynamic young British violinist Daniel Hope had earned comparisons with David Oistrakh even before he teamed up with the composer's son, Maxim, for these recordings of the two very different violin concertos...

Each wrings superlative playing from the passionate, intense Hope and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. This recording should stand for years as the nearest you'll get to definitive.

Anthony Holden

Now the muscular intelligence of Daniel Hope is put to work on both concertos in studio recordings made at the end of last year with the composer’s son Maxim conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra...Hope’s superb technique and fire, brilliantly sustained over long spans, and the fine balance between soloist and orchestra (not something achieved in Chang’s rollercoaster ride with Simon Rattle).

In his booklet note, Hope cryptically dedicates the disc to DFO: David Oistrakh’s initials. He’s not simply showing respect to the performer who became Shostakovich’s violin muse and championed the troubled first concerto in the 1950s when officialdom was still wavering. In the sombre beauty and intensity of his playing, Hope is also paying homage to Oistrakh’s style.

The Chang-Rattle account of No. 1 worked well as a chain of attractions; Hope and Maxim Shostakovich take a different route, thinking long-term, slowly and impressively fanning the music’s muted sorrow into shrieks of despair... although Maxim Shostakovich and the BBC players still generate plenty of excitement. A very satisfying performance.

The second concerto, from the mid-1960s, summons no grimaces either... The BBC players have more room to shine, and don’t fail the test: the milky horn solos threaded through the score are beautifully polished.

But there’s never a doubt about the star performer. Hope’s passion and intelligence are stamped all over this disc — a real pleasure to hear.

Geoff Brown

So umwerfend wie diese CD geworden ist, setzt Hope damit das erste nachhaltige Zeichen im Shostakowitsch-Jahr 2006...er spielt Shostakowitsch, wie es aus ihm herausströmt: hemmungslos, überschwenglich, manchmal sogar fiebrig, aber immer eigenwillig...spannend bleibt es bis zur letzten Sekunde.

Um Hope zu folgen, muß man seine Interpretationen immer als ein Ganzes annehmen. Denn erst dann entfalten sie eine eigene und faszinierende Kraft. Es erschließt sich ein Spannungsbogen, der die Extreme zwischen Garstigkeit, Melancholie und Verstörung in Schostakowitschs Partitur deutlich macht...

Wer sich dem aussetzt, sollte es mit voller Hingabe tun und zu emotionalen Achterbahnfahrten bereit sein. Hope hat die Noten zu den Menschen sprechen lassen und Augenblicke der Magie erzeugt. Mehr kann man sich von einem Musiker nicht wünschen.

Friedrich Pohl

Shostakovich is everywhere these days...however, if choosing between Chang and Hope, the latter has the edge.

Hope delves very deeply and plays with an uncompromising intensity that makes this one of the best recordings of the piece. The disc also includes Shostakovich's infrequently heard, deeply enigmatic Violin Concerto No. 2...if there was ever a performance of this odd piece to contemplate over the long term, it's this.

David Patrick Stearns

Who knows what they put in the water in the 1980s, but Britain is suddenly overrun with young violinists of extraordinary talent...Daniel Hope has a distinctive voice and impeccable technique. His tone is radiant, his bowing beautifully controlled, and his phrasing has a searching quality ideal for Shostakovich.

Anna Picard

Both these performances [Hope and Chang] are gorgeously played, but Daniel Hope's is more satisfying overall. That's partly because the composer's son, Maxim, is leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra to back him up.

A revealing illustration of the difference comes with the soloist's entrance in the tragic third-movement passacaglia. Sarah Chang attacks the music boldly and impressively. But Mr. Hope breaks your heart, very much in the style of the violinist for whom the piece was written, David Oistrakh.

Mr. Hope excels throughout and even makes a great case for the much less frequently heard second concerto as a masterpiece in its own right

Lawson Taitte

Der Geiger Daniel Hope leuchtet das ganze Spektrum von Schostakowitschs 1. Violinkonzert aus: Die Angst, die Wehmut, der Widerwille - der britische Musiker macht den wechselvollen, emotionalen Gehalt des Werks geradezu körperlich spürbar.

Hopes Geigenton ist enorm wandlungsfähig, er klingt mal kantig, schmerzverzerrt, mal unheilvoll, dann wieder lyrisch zart. Ein intensives Hörerlebnis - auch dank des gut disponierten BBC-Sinfonieorchesters unter Leitung von Komponistensohn Maxim Schostakowitsch.

Daniel Hopes Spiel fesselt auch hier: etwa den beißenden Humor des virtuosen Finalsatzes arbeitet der Geiger heraus - mit unüberhörbarer Lust am Widerborstigen.

Daniel Hopes neue CD - ein weiterer Beleg für die künstlerische Meisterschaft des britischen Geigers.

Dagmar Penzlin

Hot on the heels of Sarah Chang here’s Daniel Hope, with a couple of unique selling points. One is his approach: Hope’s a fan of modern music and believes in getting as close to the source as possible. So the conductor is the composer’s son, Maxim Shostakovich, who Hope says has given him many insights into the personality and music of the man whose concertos he’s playing. Which wouldn’t matter if he didn’t have anything to say about it himself…but he does.

Unlike some of his gifted and glossy-toned contemporaries, Daniel Hope doesn’t try and do the impossible and find a David Oistrakh-sized tone and persona, no matter how much he admires the great man for whom this music was written. Instead we know we’re hearing Hope himself as well as the composer, in search of his own Shostakovich…

I really enjoy Hope’s approach: conversational, questing, and never afraid to get his hands dirty in the grittier parts of the score...it’s new from Warner Classics, dedicated by Hope to DFO – David Oistrakh. Respect.

Andrew McGregor

A compelling new release by the 31-year-old British violinist Daniel Hope with the BBC Symphony conducted by the composer's son, Maxim Shostakovich.
Hope, who appears next season with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, probes immediately and deeply into the shadowed – one might say gloomy – psychological layering of the First Violin Concerto.

Hope brings a thoughtful blend of finesse and power to his playing, which hits a dramatic peak at exactly the right moment...Hope maneuvers through those rolling waters with an agile technic that's matched by fluent understanding. From Maxim Shostakovich, the violinist gets the savvy support one might expect from the scion of a giant.

Lawrence B. Johnson