Utwory na płycie:

• Violin Concerto No.1, Op. 19 - I. Andantino
• Violin Concerto No.1, Op. 19 - II. Scherzo. Vivacissimo
• Violin Concerto No.1, Op. 19 - III. Moderato. Allegro moderato
• Violin Concerto No.2, Op. 63 - I. Allegro moderato
• Violin Concerto No.2, Op. 63 - II. Andante assai
• Violin Concerto No.2, Op. 63 - III. Allegro ben marcato

Violin Concerto No.1, Op.19
Violin Concerto No.2, Op. 63

During the summer of 1917, whilst the First World War was raging, Sergei Prokofiev found inspiration for his first Violin Concerto, Op. 19, during walks through the fields. This concerto’s premiere in Paris did not take place until 1923. The Parisians found it “harmless” and “old-fashioned”. Despite putting all violinistic techniques to the test, the work indeed features a distinctly lyrical character. Even if Prokofiev resisted reproaches made against the style of this work, he nonetheless paid heed to them: in the works written immediately after this concerto, he adopted a markedly more modern pace. Unlike the first concerto, the second one was not written in the idyll of nature, but during Prokofiev’s nomadic phase in 1935 between Paris, Voronezh, Baku and Madrid, where it was premiered: “I wanted something completely different from the first one, in terms of both content and form.” Whereas many listeners are reminded of spring-like feelings in the first concerto, Prokofiev strikes a more nostalgic, sometimes even romantic, note. The writing is often reduced, homophonic, preferring chamber scorings to full textures.

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Recorded live at Townhouse Winterthur, Switzerland on 6-9 April 2016