Elena Ruehr: Violin Concerto

Irina Muresanu, violin
Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra
Benjamin Loeb, conductor
S7CVC0726


At sixteen minutes, this might be mistaken for an appetiser rather than a meal — yet Elena Ruehr's Violin Concerto No. 1 proves that brevity is no barrier to substance.

Released by St7dio as a digital single rather than packaged within a fuller album, it stands entirely on its own merits.

From the opening bars, this concerto sings. Ruehr's writing is accessible without ever feeling slight, its lyrical lines unfolding with real confidence in what the violin can do. She understands the instrument intimately, and the orchestral accompaniment is judged with equal skill: nothing overwhelms the soloist, nothing sits idle. The woodwind, in particular, is excellent throughout.

Irina Muresanu, for whom the work was written, plays with crisp, rhythmical precision. Her intonation is unerring, the textures cleanly drawn, and the dynamic changes handled with real assurance. The different registers are beautifully phrased, each with its own colour and weight.

The recording carries considerable historical resonance. It was made following a live performance in Lviv, Ukraine, during the war in 2025 — the same year the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra received a Latin GRAMMY® award — with GRAMMY®-nominated conductor Benjamin Loeb on the podium. The concerto, premiered by the Richmond Philharmonic under Peter Wilson, plays as a single unbroken span — fast, slow, fast — with the violin's opening material returning to close the argument rather than introducing
anything new, a shape well suited to this live provenance.

"Romanian-born violinist Irina Muresanu transcends the traditional definition of a concert artist," note the promotional materials, and on this evidence, it is hard to disagree.

For a single release, this is an unusually rich sixteen minutes, and an excellent introduction to Ruehr's work.