In the summer of 1804, while on a summer holiday in the village of Conventello near Ravenna, Rossini then aged twelve, composed his six ‘Sonate a quattro’ for two violins, cello and double-bass. Many years later, the composer wrote on the front of the manuscript: ‘First violin, second violin, violoncello and contrabass parts for six […]
For all the popularity and reinvention that now surrounds Antonio Vivaldi’s collected violin concertos known as ‘The Four Seasons’, it is difficult to believe there was a time when they were completely unknown. Like Vivaldi himself, whose once lofty reputation fell into complete obscurity following his death in Vienna in 1741, ‘The Four Seasons’ travelled […]
Salvatore Accardo, born in Turin in 1941, brings an Italianate warmth and intensity to the music he plays – not just to fellow countrymen such as Vivaldi, Tartini and Paganini but also to Austrian and German composers. By the age of thirteen, he had performed Paganini’s Caprices in recital and he was an international competition […]
As a young man, Sibelius dreamed – not just figuratively but literally – of becoming an internationally acclaimed violin virtuoso. Sibelius’ best mature compositions, however, are free of mere showmanship and his Violin Concerto might be the composer’s attempt to reconcile the world of the flashy virtuoso with that of the brooding, Nordic ascetic. Whether […]
It is common to refer to ‘the’ Mendelssohn Violin Concerto – the one in E minor, Op. 64 – but earlier in his career, Mendelssohn composed another which was posthumously published. After falling into complete obscurity for a century, this score eventually found its way into the hands of Yehudi Menuhin who published the first […]
Although noted for his fearless and thrilling performances of music by Paganini for Deutsche Grammophon, Salvatore Accardo also recorded extensitvely for Philips in the 1970s and 80s. His repertoire ranged from Baroque music through to 19th and 20th century concertos, including the complete music for violin and orchestra by Bruch and concertos by Mendelssohn and Sibelius. Here, […]
