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May 18, 2005 at 10:06 PM

WHY ALWAYS THE SAME VIOLINCONCERTO’S ON VIOLINISTS REPERTORELISTS? Why is on this website the violinconcertolist ("violin repertoire", at the right side next to violin discussion") so short, while the violinconcertorepertoire is so rich? Why is the violinconcertorepertoireknowledge of professionals so poor? Why does I, as a simple amateurviolinist (and violinconcertocollector), playing at a much lower level than most of you professional violinplayers visiting this website, knows much more violinconcerto’s than profesional players. Why does nearly no professional player knows that a well known violinplayer Jascha Heifetz has recorded the 2th violinconcerto of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco? Why does a professional violinist Tjeerd Top from the Netherlands says about this violinconcerto that it is quality in an unknown area (for him, not for me)? Why do you always hear the same silly violinconcerto’s in concerthalls? Why does a Dutch violinist, also from an professional orchestra in the Neherlands, who played the too much played 3th Siant-Saens (why never the first or 2th Saint-Saens, apart from Philippe Graffin?) with one of the many amateurorchestra’s I played in, says: The 2 concertos of Von Dohnanyi played by Szabadi impressed me even more, It was breathtaking! The second concerto in C minor is such a great work. It's a little bit Bartokian but much more lyrical than Bartok. The Hungarian violinist Vilmos Szabadi, has recorded a lot of World Premiere Recordings like this second Dohnanyi violinconcerto,. I also like his first violinconcerto, but the chance I will ever hear it in a concerthall is nearly zero. . He has recorded the 4 violinconcerto’s of Jeno Hubay and 2 violinconcerto’s of Leo Weiner. Do you know the 3th Jeno Hubay op.99? Aaron Rosand has recorded it also. Dutch professional Tjeerd Top says about this 3th Jno Hubay: This is really a very good concert!!!(which of course he didn’t know. Hey guy: what did you do at the conservatory all those years? Oh, you listen only to 10 different versions of the Brahms concerto and you never go to the cdmusic library listening to Takako Nishizaki, who made a lot of world premier recordings for Naxos, so for that reason Takako Nishizkai is for me the biggist violinist of the world) Pei Pei Zhu agree with me: “I wish I could do more to bring some FRESH AIR into violin concerto's repertoire, but how??? This is my big frustration. You are absolutely right about violinists and their repertoire. But in the other hand you should know that a violinist like me, which hasn't a BIG NAME, it's very difficult to impose his own choice of program. It's already so rare to be asked to play a concerto with an orchestra. I'm in Het Residentie since almost 9 years, but never had chance to play with the orchestra.” That is also a fact for professionals. Most of them will become teachers or chambermusicviolinists or tutti-players as second or first violinist in professional orchestra’s and will seldom play violinconcerto’s. If they play them it will be with amateurorchestra’s and seldom with professional orchestra’s. Why is always the violinconcerto ‘symfonie Espagnole’ from Eduard Lalo played so often and does nobody knows his (violin)Concerto Russe op.29 or his violinconcerto op.20 in F or his Norwegian Fantasy ( a piece of 3 parts for violin and orchestra), which are also great pieces and not minor to his ‘symfonie Espagnole’. And why always these silly Mozartviolinconcerto’s Ever heard of the ‘Black Mozart’ Joseph Boulogne, called Chevalier de Siant-Georges, one of them recorded by Rachel Barton on her cd “black violinconcerto’s of the 18th and 19th century”? Ever heard of the beautiful romantic violinconcerto of the black composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, recorded by Philippe Graffin?Be ashamed of your poor violinconcertrepertoireknowledge. When will I ever hear in concerthalls the 6th Nicolo Paganini or the 7th Henri Vieuxtemps or the 2th of Ernst von Dohnanyi or the 4th Jeno Hubay or the 4th Karol Josef Lipinski, the last one recorded only by Albrecht Breuninger or the 2th Joseph Joachim, recorded only by Aaron Rosand, Rachel Barton and Elmar Oliveira (Takako Nishizaki recorded his 3th for Naxos, Joseph Joachim fist violinconcert has never been recorded!!!) Please give me answers on this website, because I am very frustrated a lot of professionals are too lazy to choose original beautiful violinconcerto’s, because they never buy unknown beautiful violinconcerto’s or go to a cdmusiclibrary and don’t know about the richness of the violinconcertorepertoire. I have helped you by putting my violinconcertorepertoirelist of cd’s on this website, yesterday 17 may. So good luck with it.
I can't help thinking you already know the answer to your question. Barton is one of my faves. I'll bet that's a good disc. I look forward to hearing Wm Bolcom's concerto sometime. "Violinconcertorepertoireknowledge" reminds me of German class. Just kidding :)
Well, the answer is simple. Because no one will programm the other concertos. I love "I profeti" from Castelnuovo Tedesco, went to Washington DC, where I made a copy of Heifetz part with comments of the composer himself, but guess what orchestras ask me to play... Tchaikovksy, Brahms, Beethoven, Bruch, Mendelssohn... And that is because the audience comes when Brahms is on the program, not with an unknown composer. Try getting Penderecki programmed. It has been a dream of mine to play these concertos with orchestra, no chance!
Bram, I promise, if you find an orchestra that is willing to do the Castelnuovo Tedesco, I am your violinist. I will play it. By the way, listen to Mr. Perlman's recording as well, very interesting to see what the differences are between Heifetz and Perlman.
Another problem is that a lot of orchestra parts for the more unknown concertos are rental parts and most orchestras can not pay the inordinate high fees that come with performing these in concert. But again, if your orchestra wants to do Castelnuovo Tedesco, give me a ring! :-)
All of the above is very true. Even the big recording stars often have to persuade, or even beg their record companies, to allow them to record rare or comtemporary pieces. More people want to buy recordings of the Tchaikovsky then they do of the Castelnuovo Tedesco concerto. It all has to do with money!!
Thanks for your reactions. It is true that it is difficult to play a rare violinconcerto with one of my 5 or 6 amateurorchestra’s, because it is more expensive to hire it and because the conductor only knows the well known violinconcerto’s, pianoconcerto’s, celloconcerto’s and symfonies. I begin to play the well known violinconcerto’s and symfonies for the second time, the third time. I nearly begin to feel me a professional. Now an orchestra has planned to play the 7th symfonie of Dvorak, which I have played 3 times before. But there are enough other amatuerorchetra’s so I choose another. Why they seldom play the 5th or 6th or 1-4th symfonie of Dvorak? His 8th and 9th I also have played twice. I have also played the violinconcerto’s 2th Profoviev, 2e Wieniawski and 2th Bartok. One time an orchestra asked a solist (Frederieke Saeys) if and what she wanted to play with us. That was a big mistake, because she said……Beethoven. Also in the book of the 133 candidates of the Elisabethcompetition there were few surprises what the candidates would like to play in the final. Nearly always a well known concerto. In the Elisabethcompetition (if you reach the final) it was a big chance to play a rare violinconcerto with a symfonyorchestra, because the candidates know that when they were asked by professional orchestra’s after the Elsiabethcompetition they HAVE to play a standardconcerto for moneyreasons, because otherwise not enough people go to the concerthall. But they also could make a combination of a well known symfonie, a well known ouverture and 1 difficult unknown violinconcerto. Elisabethcompetitionwinner Nikolaj Znaider had made a cd with 1th Bruch and the rare violinconcerto of Nielsen. I have this cd, but have never listened to his 1th Bruch, because I know that piece too good and I am not interested in his interpretation. Even when he would play that in a concerthall with a well known orchetra, I would not go to that concerthall. Elisabeth nr.2 Albrecht Breuninger made a cd with the 2th, 3th and 4th violinconcerto of Karol Josef Lipinski, all rare. He will soon release a cd with 8 pieces of 9 minutes (one of them is Chant d’hiver, which I have from Aaron Rosand) of Ysaye with violin and orchestra, most of them never recorded before. So it is possible.
I try to lobby for rare violinconcerto’s in the amateurorchestra’s (of different level) I am playing in, because the audience are friends and colleges who don’t know much about classical music and the violinconcerto of Brahms is for them rare, just like the 2th Calenuovo-Tedesco with is also rare for them. 2 amateurstudentorchestra’s played the violinconcerto’s of Barber and Korngold, but I was too old and not good enough to play with them.