MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 (with Brahms - Four Hungarian Dances)

"What immediately strikes one about the Chang performance is the dynamic range of her playing. She is helped there by the natural balance, quite different from that given to Takezawa in her Moscow-made version for example, or that of Gil Shaham in his DG version, which I reviewed only a few months ago. Though the close-up sound preferred by those two rival young violinists might seem to carry more power, they cannot convey a full pianissimo. The range of dynamic truthfulness conveyed in Chang's performance, helped by a clearer, fuller, better-balanced recording than in these rivals, brings not just momentary delight in individual phrases but cumulative gain, when this is a reading which so strongly hangs together.

Not only does Chang play with exceptionally pure tone, avoiding heavy coloration, her individual artistry does not demand the wayward pulling-about often found in this work. In that she is enormously helped by the fresh, bright and dramatic accompaniment provided by the LSO under Sir Colin Davis, always a sensitive and helpful concerto conductor, and here encouraging generally steady speeds.
(Gramophone)