IDAGIO | Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto / Souvenir D'Un Lieu Cher / Serenade Melancolique / Valse

Featuring

Yakov Kreizberg
Julia Fischer
Russian National Orchestra
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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Performer Biography

Julia Fischer, the violinist on this recording, began her musical studies before her fourth birthday, starting with violin lessons and then piano with her mother.

Composer Biography

Tchaikovsky, a pianist himself, composed only one violin concerto, likely because the solo violin was not central to his work.

Critical Reception

The Violin Concerto was initially rejected by violinist Leopold Auer due to its technical demands and received a scathing review from critic Eduard Hanslick, who called it "outrageously difficult music."

Composition History

Tchaikovsky composed his Violin Concerto shortly after a personal crisis: his unhappy marriage to Antonia Milyukova in 1877.

Composition History

Tchaikovsky's former student, Josef Kotek, assisted him with the Violin Concerto, providing important advice on violin technique for the extremely difficult work.

Composition History

While convalescing in Switzerland, Tchaikovsky was inspired by Edouard Lalo's Symphonie espagnole, which he admired for its "freshness, lightness, unusual rhythms, marvellous and impressively harmonized melodies."