John Adams: Violin Concerto

American violinist Leila Josefowicz has performed John Adams’ 1993 Violin Concerto almost 100 times. It’s a work that makes huge technical and expressive demands on the soloist, and Josefowicz squares up admirably to the challenges. The restless, 15-minute opening movement is a vehicle for her dazzling, rhapsodic solo playing, as she flits here and there, anchored by the steady rhythms of the orchestra. Ancient meets modern when Adams then toys with the Chaconne form—Josefowicz soaring sweetly, mournfully above a recurring bass—before the final visceral, fiery moto perpetuo movement that grows ever more frenzied as it races to its climactic bars.