# sibelius violin concerto in d



## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

I'm preparing for a concert that has the Violin Concerto in D by Sibelius on the program. 
What makes a great interpretation of this concerto? What should I be paying attention to?


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

complicated question in a way...
otherwise one could easily pick some places in this concert to point at as something worth of more attention than the other places or explain in a way " it should be played like this or that, this or that tempo , this theme is like this¨" etc.

mmm.....such explanations don´t make lots of sense, at least for me.

well, my recommendation is to listen to many interpretations to get used to this music, really live in it and then when you are at concert you will know the music itself almost by heart, so you´ll be able to pay more attention to details of a particular performance.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Yes, I understand that. I've been listening to two performances already exactly as you say.


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

by the way who will be a soloist?


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Casebearer said:


> I'm preparing for a concert that has the Violin Concerto in D by Sibelius on the program.
> What makes a great interpretation of this concerto? What should I be paying attention to?


Just listen to Heifetz play it!


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Casebearer said:


> I'm preparing for a concert that has the Violin Concerto in D by Sibelius on the program.
> What makes a great interpretation of this concerto? What should I be paying attention to?


For me it has to be Oistrakh with Ormandy and the Philadelphia [



. Oistrakh captures the rather eerie lyricism of the piece without being tempted to overstate. He lets the music speak for itself, which is always best with Sibelius. There are other excellent recorded performances, of course (Heifetz!), but this one has the clarity and simplicity that I prefer to hear in Sibelius. The first movement cadenza is superb, and Oistrakh brings a strangely appealing brittle warmth to the slow movement. My favourite violin concerto performed by one of the greatest violinists of the recorded era.


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## Guest (Nov 12, 2016)

FYI in the title of your thread you called it the "violin concerto in d". The small d indicates the minor key so that is correct. Then in your opening post you called it the "Violin Concerto in D". The capital D would indicate the major key unless you write "minor" next to it. So that is incorrect. 

I hope you enjoy it.


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

Ginette Neveu's version, especially 1st movement


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

If he listens to Heifetz, he may be disappointed in the performance he is about to hear live.

Hilary Hahn has a very nice performance of it. So does Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Passion is the word. Does the soloist really dig in? That's a successful performance for me.


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## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

I too would recommend the Oistrakh version with Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, for passion, emotion and sensuality. If ever a piece should move one to tears, then this is it. A more modern but similarly passionate and sensitive recording is Augustin Hadelich's with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; very highly recommended.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

helenora said:


> by the way who will be a soloist?


Yes please let us know.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Coming it cold can be an impressive experience. By an accident of when I had series tickets, I just happened to be in Symphony Hall the night a teenaged Itzhak Perlman made his debut with the Boston Symphony. I knew neither soloist nor concerto, but in a resonant hall and with topflight orchestra and soloist it was electrifying.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

helenora said:


> by the way who will be a soloist?


Francesca Dego, a young, fast rising star as I'm told. Conductor is Daniele Rustioni.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

DavidA said:


> Just listen to Heifetz play it!


Listening to it now. The tension immediately grabs you. Very different from what I heard so far.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Pat Fairlea said:


> For me it has to be Oistrakh with Ormandy and the Philadelphia [
> 
> 
> 
> . Oistrakh captures the rather eerie lyricism of the piece without being tempted to overstate. He lets the music speak for itself, which is always best with Sibelius. There are other excellent recorded performances, of course (Heifetz!), but this one has the clarity and simplicity that I prefer to hear in Sibelius. The first movement cadenza is superb, and Oistrakh brings a strangely appealing brittle warmth to the slow movement. My favourite violin concerto performed by one of the greatest violinists of the recorded era.


Listening to it now. I see what you mean. They are so different it's hard to compare. Heifetz brings more immediate emotional tension to every note which I like a lot but it reminds me of Bartók and doesn't sound that Finnish. Oistrakh is more detached and abstract but nevertheless powerful on the emotional side. That might suit the origin better.

Just first impressions...


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

Casebearer said:


> Listening to it now. I see what you mean. They are so different it's hard to compare. Heifetz brings more immediate emotional tension to every note which I like a lot but it reminds me of Bartók and doesn't sound that Finnish. Oistrakh is more detached and abstract but nevertheless powerful on the emotional side. That might suit the origin better.
> 
> Just first impressions...


absolutely, agree with you about Oistrakh's performance as being more detached and abstract which is good


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Maxim Vengerov now with the CSO and Daniel Barenboim.
He has a beautiful tone but I think I don't like it as much as Oistrakh and Heifetz.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Perlman (1966) does a great job as well as far as I'm concerned....
This is getting quite difficult.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Anne-Sophie Mutter's performance with the Dresdener Staatskapelle and André Previn is great as well. Extremely eerie in some parts, quite schmalzy in other and as a whole very translucent and with great dynamics in the orchestra (including enough 'silence'). Sounds like a very Scandinavian interpretation to me. 

By the way: I'm only able to listen a few minutes this way of course. As I said just first impressions...


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

I would be very interested to know your impressions after you attend live performance you are preparing to.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

Pay special attention to the orchestra especially woodwinds, you may get a lot of details that are failed to be properly presented in many historical recordings. Also, in concert solo violin usually sounds less loud than in recordings, that would be natural and correct, because in many concerto recordings the equipment is put too close to the solo instrument in order to boost impact. That may be misleading to listeners that are not familiar with real concert.


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

my favorite Celibidache, violinist Ingolf Turban.

Particularly it's about tempo. Celi makes everything super clear. And as in a post above said solo violin sounds less loud, thus first theme is as if far away - amazing effect and an orchestra is more present.


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## majlis (Jul 24, 2005)

This one with Mendelssohn, LvB and Bruch first, had been recorded more than 100 times each since beginning of past century.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

The concert was this evening. I'm sorry to say it was a bit disappointing. Somehow it didn't catch me emotionally. The violinist played very virtuose but didn't have that much stage personality. It also sounded too much as a hasty Paganini interpretation of Sibelius. The orchestra also didn't convince me. The brass section sounded false to my ears at times and I heard strange washboard noises during some parts. More importantly the violin and orchestra sounded as if they were doing their own thing. Luckily the other part of the programme - Mahler's 1st symphony - was great. See my other post.
Also I've come to enjoy the Sibelius violin concert a lot by preparing for the concert, especially the Oistrakh and Mutter interpretations.


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