Label: Challenge Classics
Format: CD
Barcode: 0608917295122
Catalog number: CC 72951
Releasedate: 07-07-23
Format: CD
Barcode: 0608917295122
Releasedate: 07-07-23
- Challenge Classics violinist Rudolf Koelman pays a tribute to his teacher Jascha Heifetz.
- Two late romantic Concertos, full of pathos, rarely performed today.
- MusicWeb on CC 72736 Prokofiev Violin Concertos with Rudolf Koelman: … these performances are very fine indeed… the more you listen, the better it gets.
- Two late romantic Concertos, full of pathos, rarely performed today.
- MusicWeb on CC 72736 Prokofiev Violin Concertos with Rudolf Koelman: … these performances are very fine indeed… the more you listen, the better it gets.
These two splendid violin concertos breathe the air of Late Romanticism. Well orchestrated and skilfully written for the soloist, they have retained their footholds in the repertoire, even though their respective composers have gone out of fashion. Camille Saint-Saëns’ Third Violin Concerto in B minor had the absolute certainty and conviction of a masterpiece. Saint-Saëns wrote it early in 1880 for the popular Spanish virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate.
Although Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936) was a pupil and lifelong friend of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, he can be seen as heir to Tchaikovsky’s Romantic, heart-on-sleeve approach to composition.
The A minor Violin Concerto of 1904 is perhaps Glazunov’s most striking work, in fact the sole criticism one might make is that it takes only 20 minutes to play, which means it fits awkwardly into today’s stereotyped classical concert programmes. Like the Saint-Saëns B minor, it was written for a great fiddler, in this case the Hungarian Leopold Auer who was the leading player on the Russian scene.
Rudolf Koelman’s teacher Jascha Heifetz learnt the Concerto directly from Auer. At the St Petersburg Conservatory on 18 January 1914 Heifetz and Glazunov got together to present the Concerto; and the story goes that the almost-13-year-old’s fee was a bicycle.
Heifetz told Rudolf Koelman that he would have liked to record the Saint-Saëns B minor as well, but somehow it did not happen.
Although Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936) was a pupil and lifelong friend of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, he can be seen as heir to Tchaikovsky’s Romantic, heart-on-sleeve approach to composition.
The A minor Violin Concerto of 1904 is perhaps Glazunov’s most striking work, in fact the sole criticism one might make is that it takes only 20 minutes to play, which means it fits awkwardly into today’s stereotyped classical concert programmes. Like the Saint-Saëns B minor, it was written for a great fiddler, in this case the Hungarian Leopold Auer who was the leading player on the Russian scene.
Rudolf Koelman’s teacher Jascha Heifetz learnt the Concerto directly from Auer. At the St Petersburg Conservatory on 18 January 1914 Heifetz and Glazunov got together to present the Concerto; and the story goes that the almost-13-year-old’s fee was a bicycle.
Heifetz told Rudolf Koelman that he would have liked to record the Saint-Saëns B minor as well, but somehow it did not happen.
-
1Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61I. Allegro non troppo08:32
-
2Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61II. Andantino quasi Allegretto07:34
-
3Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61III. Molto moderato e maestoso - Allegro non troppo10:55
-
4Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 82I. Moderato03:51
-
5Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 82II. Andante06:51
-
6Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 82III. Cadenza02:02
-
7Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 82IV. Animando - Allegro05:58