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PASC002: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35 - Tchaikovsky

Buy it here:	download price	Jascha Heifetz - London Philharmonic Orchestra - John Barbirolli Recorded 25th March, 1937, Issued as 4 HMV 78s, D.B.3159-D.B.3162 Download ID: 94258/422153 Duration 31'05"	Play sample movement:

The playing has tremendous energy and the sound quite wonderful immediacy (with very little hiss); I soon forgot that was a 68-year-old performance.... James Jolly, The Gramophone, June 2005

A stunning rendition of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto by arguably the greatest violinist of the 20th century - the solo playing here on the first of his three recordings of this work is simply enhanting - "I continue to find Heifetz's earliest reading of the solo part more dazzling and intrinsically poetic" (Tim Page, New Criterion, Sept. 1995).

Now it sounds better than ever - with a brand new Pristine Audio restoration from Andrew Rose this really is essential listening.

Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto

The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is one of the best known of all violin concertos. It is also considered to be among the most technically difficult works for violin.

As with most concerti, the piece is in three movements, the first and last quick, the second slow:

1. Allegro moderato (D major)
2. Canzonetta: Andante (G minor)
3. Finale: Allegro vivacissimo (D major)

Tchaikovsky (right) with violinist Yosif Kotek

There is no break or pause between the second and third movements.

The piece was written in 1878 in Clarens, a Swiss resort on the shores of Lake Geneva where Tchaikovsky had gone to recover from the depression brought on by his disastrous marriage to Antonina Ivanovna Milyukova (Tchaikovsky was allegedly homosexual and had only married Milyukova out of a sense of duty).

Tchaikovsky was accompanied there by his composition pupil, the violinist Yosif Kotek, and the two played works for violin and piano together, which may have been the catalyst for the composition of the concerto. Tchaikovsky was not a violinist, and he sought the advice of Kotek on the completion of the solo part. Swift progress was made, and the work was completed within a month despite the middle movement getting a complete rewrite (a version of the original movement was preserved as the first of the three pieces for violin and piano, Souvenir d'un lieu cher).

Leopold Auer

Kotek did not have a strong enough reputation to premiere the work, so Tchaikovsky instead intended the first performance to be given by Leopold Auer, and accordingly dedicated the work to him. Auer refused, however, saying the work was unplayable (he did play the work later in his life, however), meaning that the planned premiere for March 1879 had to be cancelled and a new soloist found. The first performance was eventually given by Adolph Brodsky on December 4, 1881 in Vienna, under the baton of Hans Richter. Tchaikovsky changed the dedication to Brodsky. Critical reaction was mixed, and the piece was certainly not received as the masterpiece it is taken to be today. The influential critic Eduard Hanslick called it "long and pretentious" and said that it "brought us face to face with the revolting thought that music can exist which stinks to the ear". Hanslick also wrote that "the violin was not played but beaten black and blue", as well as labelling the last movement "odourously Russian".

Tchaikovsky wrote only one concerto for violin, but wrote three other concertos, all for piano (the first concerto is probably the best known).

Notes from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_(Tchaikovsky)

Find out more:   3rd Movement: Allegro Vivacissimo About Tchaikovsky: BBC Artist Profile "The Man, The Composer" Rich DiSilvio's Tchaikovsky page About Jascha Heifetz: Jascha Heifetz Society Official Heifetz web site Entry at Wikipedia CD covers to print:   CD-writing cuesheet: [What's that?] Download our Full Discography Printable text listings of all Pristine Audio historic releases Restoration by Andrew Rose:

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