The 2012 Violinist.com Tournament

What is the "best" violin concerto? There's no correct answer to that question, of course, but that's not going to keep Violinist.com readers from having a fun time debating it! In March 2012, we hosted the first Violinist.com Tournament to answer this question, pitting 16 popular violin concertos against each other in a single-elimination tournament.

Beethoven defeated Sibelius in the final!

Readers voted for their favorites, which advanced to the next round on their way to the March 30, 2012 final. Here's the schedule of match-ups, or you can download the bracket.

Round One

Monday, March 12: 11. Vivaldi Four Seasons def. 6. Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5, 51%-49%

Tuesday, March 13: 5. Brahms Violin Concerto def. 12: Barber Violin Concerto, 76%-24%

Wednesday, March 14: 7. Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor def. 10. Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, 52%-48%

Thursday, March 15: 8. Bach Concerto for Two Violins ("Bach Double") def. 9. Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4, 69%-31%

Friday, March 16: 3. Mendelssohn Violin Concerto def. 14. Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2, 85%-15%

Monday, March 19: 4. Sibelius Violin Concerto def. 13. Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1, 84%-16%

Tuesday, March 20: 2. Beethoven Violin Concerto def. 15. Bach Violin Concerto in A minor, 81%-19%

Wednesday, March 21: 1. Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto def. 16. Wieniawski Violin Concerto No. 2, 83%-17%

Round Two

Thursday, March 22: 3. Mendelssohn Violin Concerto def. 11. Vivaldi Four Seasons, 78%-22%

Friday, March 23: 4. Sibelius Violin Concerto def. 5. Brahms Violin Concerto, 58%-42%