Young Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti caused a sensation
in 2004 when she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year
and wowed the audience and judges alike with her performance
of Szymanowski's Violin Concerto, which later became the
repertoire for her debut CD.
The repertoire for her follow-up album focuses on
Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and also includes a World
Premiere two-movement piece by fellow-Scot, James
MacMillan, composed especially for Benedetti. The title From
Ayrshire is a reference to the musicians' shared home country.
Both of these pieces and a new arrangement of Schubert's
Serenade (Leise flehen meine Lieder, D957) are conducted
by James MacMillan with the Academy of St. Martin-inthe-
Fields. Completing the disc is a harp and violin arrangement
of Schubert's Ave Maria and Mozart's Rondo K.373
and Adagio K.261, directed by Benedetti from the violin.
