Szigeti (violin)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Leader, Paul Beard
Conductor, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Beethoven Overture: Leonora No. 3

7.46 app. Violin Concerto in D 8.32 app. Symphony No. 8, in F

At the first performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto in Vienna in December 1806, the soloist Franz Clement was obliged to read his part at sight - Beethoven had only just completed the work. The first movement was played in the first part of the programme, the slow movement and the finale in the second part. It is scarcely to be wondered at that after this unpropitious introduction the work took a little time to establish itself, but it is now acknowledged to be the greatest of all violin concertos. The Eighth Symphony presents Beethoven in his 'unbuttoned' mood: boisterous, challenging, confident, and gay. In the third movement, instead of giving us a Scherzo, Beethoven reverts to the form of the Minuet; probably for the sake of contrast, since the scherzo-spirit abounds in most of the work. The finale, like the whole work, is large-hearted and powerful. (Harold Rutland)

From the Royal Albert Hall, London, AT 7.30