Philippe Graffin (violin), BBC National Orchestra of Wales/David Lloyd-Jones Hyperion CDA 67838

Baron Frédéric d’Erlanger (1868-1943) and Frederic Cliffe (1857-1931), were both part- time composers. d’Erlanger (born in Paris to a German father and an American mother, and later a naturalised British citizen) was a banker who composed sporadically throughout his life. Cliffe was a British pianist who seems to have been a late starter as a composer (with a symphony at the age of 31) who wrote his last piece in 1905. d’Erlanger’s 1902 Violin Concerto begins in promisingly assertive style and ends with a fairy-fleet finale. But much of the lyrical writing in between is rather pale. Cliffe’s 1986 concerto is seriously lacking in direction, and even in Philippe Graffin’s sensitive hands, doesn’t really come to life until the rhythmic animation of the finale. See url.ie/4qdb