Gramophone Magazine
July 2023
Editor's Choice

Kerson Leong (violin), Philharmonia Orchestra, Patrick Hahn

Britten: Violin Concerto in D minor Op. 15
Bruch: In Memoriam, Op. 65
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26

On his second album for Alpha Classics, rising star violinist Kerson Leong juxtaposes the Violin Concertos of Bruch and Benjamin Britten. This unusual pairing is a reflection on the journey from one extreme of expression to another. Bruch’s In Memoriam is the perfect bridge between them. “The Britten expresses a raw and exposed experience, while the Bruch is comforting and uplifting. After the last few years in which the world has experienced much difficulty and uncertainty due to pandemic, war, and crisis, recording this album in London in January 2021 with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Patrick Hahn was a profoundly cathartic moment. It is in the spirit of catharsis that I offer this album.” - Kerson Leong

"it is the coupling of the Britten Violin Concerto (gratifyingly becoming more and more core repertoire these days) which...sets this disc apart…I can’t recall a better account of the piece than this." - Gramophone Magazine, July 2023.