Favorite Violin Concerto?

[DavidW]

On another thread, two posters were debating between Elgar and Mozart #4.

My favorite VC is Mendelssohn's, followed by Shostakovich #2. What is your favorite?

[brewski]

So many to choose from, including the two you cite. Love the Barber, the two by Prokofiev, and both Offertorium and In Tempus Praesens by Gubaidulina. And Berg!

But I keep coming back to the first one by Shostakovich. Its combination of virtuosity and intimacy always pulls me in; the cadenza in the third movement is awe-inspiring, and seems to bring out the best in the performer.

Over the years, I've had some memorable experiences, such as witnessing Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg break a string in the ticklish second movement, and then continue after immediately exchanging her instrument with that of the concertmaster. Or sitting in awe in the front row of the Concertgebouw, as a young Hilary Hahn made the piece seem effortless.

-Bruce

[Karl Henning]

It's a sentimental favorite: the Prokofiev g minor Concerto because it's the first I played in, so with all the rehearsal and all it worked right in amongst me.

[San Antone]

Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in D, but also Bernstein's Serenade, after Plato's Symposium, not titled "concerto", but a composition for solo violin, strings and percussion.

[NumberSix]

Good topic! The Sibelius for me (followed by Mendelssohn).

As I no doubt note every time I post that I am listening to it, that point about 6 min into the first movement when the orchestra comes back in is probably my favorite moment in all of classical music.

I don't have a favorite performance. Too many I have yet to hear. So far I like them all.  Reminds me that there's a new one from James Ehnes that I have yet to hear.

(Hilary Hahn's Mendelssohn might be my favorite of that one, but again still plenty of new-to-me ones out there.)

[NumberSix]

It's a sentimental favorite: the Prokofiev g minor Concerto because it's the first I played in, so with all the rehearsal and all it worked right in amongst me.

As a composer, you no doubt have familiarity with a number of instruments. But what's your main one, the instrument you started on or grew up with?

[Cato]

The first one which came to mind was the BUSONI Violin Concerto!   

Then came Schoenberg's!  😇

[Jo498]

Brahms, next probably Mendelssohn, Shostakovich 1

[Kalevala]

Good topic! The Sibelius for me (followed by Mendelssohn).

As I no doubt note every time I post that I am listening to it, that point about 6 min into the first movement when the orchestra comes back in is probably my favorite moment in all of classical music.

Yay!  😃 I heard it (and saw it) performed live with Leonidas Kavakos.  A wonderful concert.

K

[Karl Henning]

As a composer, you no doubt have familiarity with a number of instruments. But what's your main one, the instrument you started on or grew up with?

Clarinet. I really want to recover my left hand so I can be reunited with it. This is a recording I made a few months before my stroke:

[brewski]

The first one which came to mind was the BUSONI Violin Concerto!   

Then came Schoenberg's!  😇

Slightly red-faced to realize that I don't recall ever hearing the Busoni, despite being familiar with the Piano Concerto! Thanks for that link, which I will explore soon.

-Bruce

[Karl Henning]

The Sibelius for me

Love it! Heard Gidon Kremer play this in St Petersburg's Great Philharmonic Hall.

[Cato]

Slightly red-faced to realize that I don't recall ever hearing the Busoni, despite being familiar with the Piano Concerto! Thanks for that link, which I will explore soon.

-Bruce

It is an early work from the later 1890's, but I find it most appealing, and Herr Zimmermann gives us an excellent performance!

[Florestan]

Top 5

Mozart 4
Mozart 5
Mendelssohn
Tchaikovsky
Dvorak

[DaveF]

For me, the Old and New Testaments have to be Bach in E and Beethoven.

[Luke]

The Elgar - the very essence of the violin, the most sensitive and poetic of concerti. It's a big work but I can happily listen to it on repeat

Which is not to say that others don't rank with it in my mind.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Hindemith, Erkin, Yossifov, Tchaikovsky, Bloch, Szymanowski 1, Vladigerov1 and 2, Prokofiev 1 and 2, Kalomiris, Khachaturian.

[André]

Apart from Mozart 4 and Elgar, those by Pettersson, Zimmermann, Barber, Korngold, Bloch, Reger and, yes: Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

EDIT: how could I have forgotten my favourite 20th concerto ? Berg's VC rules.

[Brian]

I can actually go in order to some extent.

1. Shostakovich 1
2. Sibelius
3. Barber
4. Brahms
5. Tchaikovsky

next tier, alphabetical: Bach (both), Bernstein Serenade, Chavez, Dvorak, Locatelli Op 3 No 12 "Il labirinto armonico," Mendelssohn, Mozart 3, Prokofiev (both), Stanford, Stravinsky

[Daverz]

Didn't we already do violin concertos?

Prokofiev 1 & 2
Bartok
Szymanowski 1
Shostakovich 1
Weinberg
Sibelius
Nielsen
Barber
Brahms
Frank Martin

Bonus concerto:
Martinu 1