Origins

This superb debut album emerged from Coco Tomita’s triumph in the Strings category of the 2020 BBC Young Musician competition. Playing a Stradivarius, the Japanese violinist gives us a well-chosen selection of (mainly) early 20th-century music for violin and piano. Sonatas by Poulenc and Ravel, each brilliantly differentiated and characterized, reveal a big musical personality. Tomita and pianist Simon Callaghan really have the measure of these complementary—and quirky—pieces. Ravel’s “Blues” movement (from Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major) is done superbly. Hubay’s “Carmen Fantaisie” sizzles, the Lili Boulanger “Nocturne” has a lovely lyricism, and the Enescu solo (“Impressions d’enfance”) dances enticingly. The Heifetz-arranged Debussy “Beau soir” makes a deliciously languid coda.