Recital Maxim Vengerov
MAX BRUCH Concerto for violin and orchestra in G minor, Op. 26
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Introduction et Rondo capriccioso for violin and orchestra A minor, Op. 28
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Havanaise for violin and orchestra in E, Op. 83
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Serenade for String Orchestra in C, Op. 48
End of the concert approx. 12:55 pm
Print programme (PDF)
It’s hard to believe that these pieces are almost forgotten today, since the mercurial charm of the Rondo capriccioso and Cuban allure of the Havanaise have lost none of their enchantment. Camille Saint-Saëns believed that the solo part of a concerto ‘must be planned out and treated like a dramatic role’, and among his many other compositions, he wrote brilliant music for topnotch instrumentalists. With these works, the almost universally talented Frenchman, active in all kinds of artistic and scientific disciplines, was particularly original and eager to experiment.
It is not always the case that posterity values the creative output of artists who once enjoyed great acclaim. Three years younger than Saint-Saëns, the Cologne-born Max Bruch evolved from a famous ‘Wunderkind’ to a highly respected composer, but today his legacy has all but shrunk to the virtuosic First Violin Concerto. Completed in 1868, this melodious showpiece enjoyed an international success which Bruch did not take kindly to, as it overshadowed his later works. Ever since its premiere, Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous Serenade for Strings has been considered one of his greatest triumphs. Even the notoriously self-critical composer was ‘terribly in love’ with his creation, which had sprung from ‘inner compulsion’.