Leader, BERTRAM LEWIS
Conductor, RICHARD AUSTIN
Solo violin, GEZA DE KRESZ from the Pavilion, Bournemouth (Soloist, GEZA DE KRESZ)Brahms's Violin Concerto in D is one of the three or four greatest concertos written for the instrument. It was composed in 1878 when Brahms was forty-five years of age. The first performance took place at a Gewandhaus Concert at Leipzig on January 1, 1879, with Joachim as soloist and Brahms as conductor. Seven weeks later Joachim played the Concerto at the Crystal Palace with great success. Joachim had much to do with the fashioning of the solo part, for while Brahms was writing it he was continually asking for Joachim's expert advice on the most effective way of laying out certain passages from the technical point of view of the virtuoso.