With the technical prowess and flourishes demanded by much of this disc’s repertoire, you could be forgiven for thinking that ‘Fireworks’ might be a better title than ‘Fantasie’ – until, that is, you hear Benedetti’s performances. She has recently rebalanced her schedule to make more time for lessons, and the effect on her playing has been dramatic. A fuller-bodied, more expressive tone allied to a thoughtful, individual approach to the music has resulted in interpretations that are anything but superficial and flashy. Benedetti has done her research, listening to old recordings (including Sarasate himself playing Zigeunerweisen) in her effort to strip away the accumulated accretions and affectations of tradition. Her Zigeunerweisen may be not be the fastest on disc, but her gutsy full-blooded tone in the opening moderato contrasts markedly with her spiky, splintery style in the last section. Delicate portamenti, beautifully rounded harmonics, rock-solid intonation and a fast vibrato (akin to Sarasate’s own) add up to an arresting performance. For that work plus Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso and Ravel’s Tzigane Benedetti is joined by an alert Royal Liverpool Philharmonic conducted by Petrenko. The sound is exceptionally vivid, showing off Benedetti’s fast percussive pizzicato in the Ravel and her mastery of good bowing technique in her rhythmically taut but bold approach to the Saint-Saëns Rondo. The violinist’s progress over the last three years can be gauged from the fourth track, a January 2005 recording of Massenet’s Meditation from Thaïs with the LPO. It’s very pleasant, but tonally much more superficial than the works recorded in 2008. Rather naughtily, the record company has also slotted in Benedetti’s The Lark Ascending featured on her Tavener disc. New, however, are three rather lovely works with piano accompaniment - a beautifully controlled performance of Arvo Pärt’s hypnotic Spiegel im Spiegel, a heartfelt but not too sentimental Rachmaninov Vocalise, and a lyrically-played Après une Rêve by Fauré.

Reviewed by Anne McAlister