Sergei Prokofiev began his Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, opus 19, as a concertino in 1915 but soon abandoned it to work on his operaThe Gambler. He returned to the concerto in the summer of 1917. It premiered on October 18, 1923 at the Paris Opera with Marcel Darrieux playing the violin part and the Paris Opera Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky. Igor Stravinsky made his debut as conductor at the same concert, conducting the first performance of his own Octet for Wind Instruments.
Despite the events leading to the abdication of TsarNicholas II of Russia and eventually the October Revolution, 1917 became Prokofiev's most productive year compositionally. Along with this concerto he completed the "Classical" Symphony, the Third and Fourth Piano Sonatas, and the Visions Fugitives for piano. He also began the cantata Seven, They are Seven, based on Chaldean texts, and worked on the Third Piano Concerto. Nevertheless, Prokofiev continued his habit of incorporating previously composed sections in the violin concerto (something he would also do in the Third Piano Concerto). He composed the concerto's opening melody in 1915, during his love affair with Nina Mescherskaya. The remaining movements were partly inspired by a 1916 Saint Petersburg performance of Karol Szymanowski's Myths by Polish violinist Paul Kochanski.
The first movement has two contrasting themes, the first in dotted rhythm and initially hesitant and the second in B major (begun by the cellos), wide-ranging and expressive. These are, in turn, dissected and ornamented by the soloist with formidable virtuosity, using multiple-stopping and harmonics and, notably in the cadenza, the extreme upper register of the violin.
The second movement, Preghiera (Prayer), is a short lyrical interlude in A major, with the orchestra woodwinds and horns given much prominence; it leads right into the concluding Rondo, a colourful and vivacious piece with a contrasting episode in B major and demanding bravura playing, but without the first movement's extreme pyrotechnics (suggesting that it was composed earlier).
Béla Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 1, Sz. 36, BB 48a was written in the years 1907–1908, but only published in 1959, after the composer's death, as "Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. posth." It was premiered on 30 May 1958 in Basel, Switzerland.
Background
The concerto was dedicated, as was Othmar Schoeck's concerto for the same instrument, to the violinist Stefi Geyer, with whom Bartók was in love. Geyer could not reciprocate Bartók's feelings and rejected the concerto. It was revived after both Bartók and Geyer had died. Geyer's copy of the manuscript was bequeathed to Paul Sacher to be performed by him and Hansheinz Schneeberger. The concerto was later championed by David Oistrakh. Acclaimed recordings include Oistrakh with Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting, as well as versions by Maxim Vengerov and György Pauk.
Structure
The composition strays from the path of the traditional concerto, having two rather than three movements:
Andante sostenuto
Allegro giocoso
Far from being an innovation, the two-movement form is the traditional design of the rhapsody: a slow movement followed by a fast one. Bartók had already used this form in 1904 for his first concertante work, the Rhapsody, Op. 1, for piano and orchestra (Mason 1958, 15).
Just kidding ... 2 ... 3 ... Violinist and concertmaster Juliana Athayde will solo in Sergei Prokofiev’s "ViolinConcerto No ... For a finale, Prokofiev’s symphonic folk tale, "Peter and the Wolf," will be narrated by international performing artist ThomasWarfield.
... percussion, squeaky high harmonics in the violins and an ominous low C drone in the cellos ... She took a back seat to Augustin Hadelich, the authoritative soloist in Prokofiev’s ViolinConcerto No.
Augustin Hadelich, the greatest violinist of his generation, plays Chausson’s Concert with some of the festival A-list aculty Saturday afternoon, and returns Sunday to play Prokofiev’s ViolinConcerto No.
Sibelius and Prokofiev violin concertos, album cover. They bring a different, lighter intensity to Prokofiev’s Concerto No 1, creating a spellbinding, storytelling atmosphere ... concerto recording.
Speaking of Nikki Chooi, before that he’ll also be out in front of the BPO with his brother, Timothy Chooi, playing an audience favorite, the Bach “DoubleConcerto” before Timothy solos in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.
Sun Sentinel
19 Oct 2024
Sun Sentinel
19 Oct 2024