Thursday 13 May 2010

Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto [Shkolnikova/ Simon-Philharmonia Orchestra]

The Ukrainian Violinist Nelli Shkolnikova died earlier this year, she recorded very little, but what she did record was highly praised, so this is a rare opportunity to hear her talents, she was 60 when she made this recording.

I love the first movement, it's got everything a Violin Concerto should have, plus it's got Tchaikovsky stamped across all of it, you can hear his Symphonies and Ballets in this Concerto, early on there's a steady lyrical passage for the violin [3:10-4:13], which slowly becomes more and more impassioned, it's good to hear Schkolnikova sustain this well, and almost right after it a moment of brilliant virtuosity [5:20-6:06], which uses the high notes of the violin, then comes a forte passage for orchestra which comes straight out of Marche Slave [6:06-6:41], notice the trumpets bleating in the background, i like the way the violin pulls off the main theme in staccato for about a minute [7:30-8:39], a nice touch, and a great variation, the movement ends in sheer bravura, starting with a repeat of the impassioned music at 3:10 [13:48-14:44], and it goes into the high register, and to bring the thing to a close there's very fast bowing [15:19-16:21], and a final almighty flourish [16:47-17:32], this must be one hell of a Concerto to pull off with style.

Here's Shkolnikova playing the first movement on YouTube this time with Kondrashin, recorded in 1959.