CD: Coleridge-Taylor: Violin Concerto; Somervell: Violin Concerto

An all-British instalment in Hyperion's Romantic Violin Concerto series, with a couple of genuine rarities. Neither Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's concerto of 1912, his last substantial work, nor Arthur Somervell's, from 1930 and recorded here for the first time, will set concert halls on fire. The first movement of the Coleridge-Taylor, predictable and sometimes laboured, is the low point, though the slow movement and rondo finale are more attractive. Somervell's work is more successful, especially if you are susceptible to English pastoralism; the best feature of the CD is Anthony Marwood's superb solo playing.