Viotti 22 - any tips?

February 1, 2017 at 11:21 PM · The best edition is the one in which your teacher has made tons of marks.

February 2, 2017 at 03:39 PM · LOL! They have the original of each violin part on imslp, complete with Viotti's cramped notes that almost toich stems in some instances. :)

February 2, 2017 at 11:28 PM · I'm a big fan of Kreisler and Wieniawski cadenzas for this concerto. There is a pretty cool Perlman recording in which he uses a combo of the David and Alard cadenzas. Joachim and Ysaye will be your most standard cadenzas and they're both very very good, have fun!

February 3, 2017 at 03:46 AM · Paul, then I have a fab edition. I like this one, too!

February 3, 2017 at 09:48 PM · Boring? It's a lovely and charming concerto - and a favorite of Brahms. My favorite cadenza? The one I composed for it!

February 4, 2017 at 12:26 AM · Viotti was one of the most influential violinists of the late-18th century, having a big influence on Paganini (amongst others) who admired his concertos and kept some in his performing repertoire.

Viotti's composition style started to change in the last 9 of his 29 concertos, this change including heavier orchestration (although it didn't quite become Romantic) and slightly less demanding writing for the soloist, which probably reflected Viotti's own advancing years. It may be observed that Concerto 22 is in that last 9.

I can trace my own "who-taught-whom" family tree back to Viotti, and beyond.

February 4, 2017 at 04:59 PM · Further to my previous post, which Viotti concertos are commonly taught today in colleges/conservatoires? I already know about 22 and 23.

February 5, 2017 at 07:46 PM · 22 and 23 are the only ones Viotti completed. He wasn't able to finish his first 21 attempts but didn't want to give the impression that he wrote only 2 concertos...

(As I'm writing this total nonsense, it almost sounds plausible! ;-D )

February 5, 2017 at 08:10 PM · You Americans :D

February 6, 2017 at 11:36 AM · Thanks all for the replies :)

What I'd heard about the previous 21 concertos is that they were all personal favourites of Louis XVI - so during the French Revolution all copies of them were suppressed and anyone who played them risked being taken off to the guillotine. The orchestral parts were eventually turned into toilet paper for the French army as it marched on Moscow, but one score was captured by Cossacks and was heavily played by orchestras in Russia. That's why Viotti was such a big influence on the Russian school of violin playing.