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Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto is one of the most frequently performed works in the genre. Acclaim did not, however, come to the work immediately. In 1875, when Tchaikovsky showed his work to his friend and teacher Nikolai Rubinstein, he declined to perform the Concerto, considering its structure insufficiently “piano-like”. The Concerto later became famous in a revised version by Alexander Siloti, in which the virtuoso nature of the work was significantly increased. Today it is performed to great acclaim in both versions – the traditional Siloti version and the composer’s own, in which the virtuoso qualities do not overshadow the unusual melodic richness and expressiveness of the structure.
Tchaikovsky dedicated the Concerto to the memory of the renowned German pianist Hans von Bülow. Bülow’s performances in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were a phenomenal success and ever since then Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto has been a symbol of Russian music. In Russia the Concerto was first performed by Sergei Taneyev. In one of his letters, he called it the first Russian piano concerto that matched reality. It was this work that became the first classical example of the piano concerto in Russian music.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky wrote his only Violin Concerto in 1878 when he was already an acclaimed composer having written his First Piano Concerto, four symphonies and operas (including Eugene Onegin). The Violin Concerto somewhat repeated the destiny of the First Piano Concerto as it was not immediately judged as it deserved to be. Today it is difficult to imagine that a work of such power, expressiveness and beauty did not immediately find an appreciative audience or performer. Initially Tchaikovsky had decided to write the Concerto for his friend and pupil Iosif Kotek, and then because of subsequent disagreements he offered it to the renowned violinist and teacher Leopold Auer. On seeing, however, that the latter “shelved” his work he dedicated the piece to Adolph Brodsky who was the first performer of the Concerto in Russia and abroad and who met with strong resistance from other musicians and sharply negative critical comments afterwards.
For one and a half centuries the main difficulty for the performer has been the extremely virtuoso nature of the Concerto. Today the main problem lies rather in the interpretation because offering a new treatment of such a famous and frequently performed work is a task that is definitely not for the fainthearted.
Svetlana Nikitina
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