It’s perfectly ok for classical musicians to add some classy fluff to their repertoire, which is what Nicola Benedetti has done in Violin Café (Decca, 2025/2026) – a recent release that features a mélange of works infused with multicultural La Belle Époque, flash and expressionist hue that feature Maria Theresia von Paradis (1759-1824), Wieniawski, Debussy, Sarasate and contemporary Scottish piper Brighde Chaimbeul. Benedetti is joined by trending crossover collaborators Plínio Fernandes (guitar), Samuele Telari (accordion), Thomas Carroll (cello) and Yume Fujise (violin) who conjure up a classical jam session feel - a sassy detour from her previous albums that include violin concertos of Elgar and Beethoven with the Aurora Orchestra, released last year.
The album contains a mixture of energized and laid back arrangements of selections such as Debussy’s sugary reverie Beau soir, Ponce’s Estrellita with mellow cello touches, Bloch’s sentimental No. 1 Prayer with organ-like accordion inflection and Samuel Dushkin’s honeyed arrangement of the Paradis Sicilienne – all wrapped in Benedetti’s mellifluous mocha java sonority. It’s been said that music is the universal language, so Farewell to Stromness by English composer Peter Maxwell Davies creates a somber atmospheric statement about a proposed uranium plant in Orkney, Scotland written by this composer in protest and premiered in 1980. The plant never materialized but Farewell to Stromness is still being played.
Benedetti is Festival Director of Edinburgh International Festival and so this recording melds with the flavor of her homeland in offering Scottish smallpipes virtuoso Brighde Chaimbeul in three traditional tunes - which should change the mindset of those who think bagpipes sound like a subwoofer audio speaker. She draws out a variety of nuances that evoke the sound of a string quartet and brings metric exuberance to the Hacky Honey Reel. These Celtic interludes provide a turn from hefty works often found in her repertoire, so
If you are used to hearing Wieniawski’s quasi virtuosic Polonaise de concert, Op. 4 played by budding prodigies with piano or orchestral accompaniment, this arrangement plays like upmarket coffee house entertainment as Fernandes, Telari and Carroll envelop Benedetti’s buoyant passagework and silky tone in an atmosphere of snappy improvisational vibrancy. But wait – there are more exotic moments during Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25 (scored by Stephen Goss, guitar professor at Royal Academy of Music) where the famous theme is given an array of twists highlighting Telari’s and Benedetti’s spiced finesse. Another Sarasate favorite, Navarra, Op. 33 sparkles like a newly popped bottle of champagne or sparkling apple juice in another Goss arrangement that pairs Benedetti with violinist Yume Fujise.
Violin Café is a refreshing change from Benedetti’s traditional performances and provides unexpected and enchanting listening that highbrows and those of other musical genres can bond with.