Sinfonia Varsovia / Zukerman / Violin Passion - NOSPR

The impulse behind the foundation of Sinfonia Varsovia was a series of concerts led from the violin by the legendary virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin. To this day, the Warsaw orchestra excels in performances led by musicians who combine the roles of soloist and conductor – especially when that musician is an artist of Pinchas Zukerman’s stature.

Although the Serenade for Strings is a relatively early work in Edward Elgar’s output, the composer remained particularly fond of it and even towards the end of his life counted it among his favourite compositions. The strength of this modest work lies in the simplicity and sincerity of its expression. A violinist himself, Elgar wrote for string instruments with remarkable grace, creating parts imbued with a characteristically English lyricism.

Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 had been composed just over twenty years earlier, but the composer eventually came to regard it very differently from the way Elgar viewed his Serenade. The concerto’s immense popularity, combined with an unfavourable publishing contract, became a source of lasting frustration, as Bruch sometimes felt he was regarded as the composer of a single hit. During a visit to Naples in 1903, local violinists would gather near the place where he was staying, and Bruch recalled with exasperation: ‘They stand there on the corner of Via Toledo, ready to play my First Concerto the moment I show myself. To hell with them! As though I hadn't written other concertos just as good as this one!’ Still, although popularity has its darker side, Bruch would surely have appreciated the fact that today this work is universally regarded as one of the greatest violin concertos in the history of the genre.

Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 is a seemingly endless cascade of musical ideas, vibrant melodies and rhythms. The composer completed the work with astonishing speed: the score was finished in just ten weeks. Little wonder – he was working in his natural element, drawing freely on the folk music of his native Bohemia. The result is a symphony that is radiant and joyful throughout, yet rich in harmonic and orchestral colour. And when the trumpet fanfare sounds in the finale, it is worth recalling the words attributed to the celebrated conductor Rafael Kubelík: ‘In Bohemia, trumpets never call to battle – they always call to the dance!’

Szymon Maliszewski

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