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OK, you guessed it: it’s going to be impossible for us to narrow things down to one “best”! But Akiko and I give it our best shot, outlining the pluses and minuses for all the popular choices.
In this episode we refer to an article I wrote a few years ago, “Which violin concerto has the toughest opening?“
Many years ago, at a Chicago Symphony viola audition, Barenboim expressed frustration after the fourth or fifth Bartok Concerto. “I’ve never been able to discern anything about a candidate’s musicianship from this piece!” he complained. Thereafter, he stipulated that all violists would play the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante at the finals. I was puzzled; it is not technically challenging at all. But after hearing the candidates crescendo on the long sustained E flat and then go down the E flat major scale, I knew everything I needed to know about them.
Yes, not at all surprising that he’d say that! I remember when one violin finals was about to start, he looked at the repertoire list and said (probably mostly to tweak the committee) that if it were up to him we’d just hear everyone’s Mozart concerto and go home. But as you say, he had a good point!
How would you rate Glazunov in this category (as an audition concerto)? How would it compare to other choices?
Great question! I personally would be happy to hear it played well in an audition, as it would be refreshing. It is one of those that takes a while to really get going though, in terms of flash. I think violinists would respond well to it, but non-violinists might assume that the player didn’t have a big technique unless they got to hear a good five minutes of it… which would never happen in a first round.
How about Korngold? I really love it, but I feel like not as many orchestras put it in the rep list?