Roman Simović has led the LSO for half a dozen years now, and clearly has the orchestra's string section under good control. Here he took a section of the LSO strings—around 30 players—into the Barbican for a concert last spring, and played three English string masterpieces—Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro, Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, and Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge. We British don't always credit ourselves, as we should, for having produced such a stunning array of string orchestra masterpieces. The three offered here all sound wonderful both separately, and listened to complete as a concert. It's hard to fault Simović's direction, or his colleagues playing, and my only grouse here is the short weight—54 Minutes isn't long enough, particularly when there are other splendid pieces, such as Elgar's Serenade that could have completed an otherwise fine album.

Classic FM