Violinist Vilde Frang calls herself an ambassador for music of the 20th century

When Norwegian virtuoso Vilde Frang makes her CSO debut this month, she will perform Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto.

Her latest album (released by Warner Classics) features another 20th century work: Elgar’s Violin Concerto, with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, under Robin Ticciati.

“Elgar actually has been a very late discovery for me,” she said on the disc’s liner notes. "But it didn’t take me a long time to become a very passionate ambassador for this piece."

In Chicago, Frang will join guest conductor Hannu Lintu in concerts Nov. 21-23 also featuring works by John Adams, Tchaikovsky and Gubaidulina.

“I’ve wanted to record Elgar’s Violin Concerto for a long time,” Frang said. “It really is a journey — such a vast piece of music with such an original structure and so many impulses and ideas. You need to take the time to savor all these moments … That is part of the magic of the piece.

“There are some hidden messages in the concerto,” she said. “It actually starts with the answer, and then after it, comes all the questions. Playing it is almost a meditative experience.” 

The disc also features Elgar’s Carissma version for violin and piano, performed with German pianist Thomas Hoppe, and William Lloyd Webber’s The Gardens at Eastwell (A Late Summer Impression), arranged for violin and strings.