However, he was not intending to be derogatory, as he went on: "In the easier and looser concerto forms invented by Mendelssohn and Schumann I have not met a more original, a more masterly, and a more exhilarating work than the Sibelius violin concerto". Donald Tovey described the final movement as a " polonaise for polar bears". One noteworthy feature of the work is the way in which an extended cadenza for the soloist takes on the role of the development section in the sonata form first movement. This is the only concerto that Sibelius wrote, though he composed several other smaller-scale pieces for solo instrument and orchestra, including the six Humoresques for violin and orchestra. In 2020, Robert Lienau Musikverlag produced the first published version of the original 1904 version of the Violin Concerto. 30 and 31 March 2023: Elina Vähälä (soloist), Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä (conductor).7 and 8 January 2022: Elina Vähälä (soloist), Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä (conductor).5 and 6 October 2016: Maxim Vengerov (soloist), Orchestre de Paris, Christoph Eschenbach (conductor).6 June 2016: Maxim Vengerov(soloist), Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Marios Papadopoulos (conductor) (Barbican Centre, London).5 June 2016: Maxim Vengerov (soloist), Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Marios Papadopoulos (conductor) (The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, UK).28 November 2015: Maxim Vengerov (soloist), Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Carter (conductor).3 September 2015: Elina Vähälä (soloist), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor).Subsequent performances of the 1904 version have been as follows: In January 1991, BIS made a commercial recording of the original 1904 version, with Leonidas Kavakos, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Vänskä. The first such documented authorisation was for a September 1990 performance by Manfred Grasbeck, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä. The Sibelius family has granted occasional permission for a small number of orchestras and soloists to perform the original 1904 version in public. The cadenza in the first movement is exactly the same for the violin part. Certain parts, like the very beginning, most of the third movement, and parts of the second, have not changed at all. The original is somewhat longer than the revised, including themes that did not survive the revision. The revised version still requires a high level of technical facility on the part of the soloist. The initial version was noticeably more demanding on the advanced skills of the soloist. Vecsey championed the work, first performing it when he was only 13, although he could not adequately cope with the extraordinary technical demands of the work. Burmester was so offended that he refused ever to play the concerto, and Sibelius re-dedicated it to the Hungarian "wunderkind" Ferenc von Vecsey, who was aged 12 at the time. Willy Burmester was again asked to be the soloist, but he was again unavailable, so the performance went ahead without him, the orchestra's leader Karel Halíř stepping into the soloist's shoes. The new version premiered on 19 October 1905 with Richard Strauss conducting the Berlin Court Orchestra. He deleted much material he felt did not work. Sibelius withheld this version from publication and made substantial revisions. He was the first violinist hired by Martin Wegelius for the Helsinki Institute, and in 1910 he participated in the premiere of Sibelius's string quartet Voces intimae, which received favourable reviews. However, Nováček was not the poor player he is sometimes painted as. Given these factors, it was unwise of Sibelius to choose Nováček, who was a teacher and not a recognised soloist, and it is not surprising that the premiere was a disaster. Sibelius had barely finished the work in time for the premiere, giving Nováček little time to prepare, and the piece was of such difficulty that it would have sorely tested even a player of much greater skill. The initial version of the concerto premiered on 8 February 1904, with Sibelius conducting. For financial reasons, however, Sibelius decided to premiere it in Helsinki, and since Burmester was unavailable to travel to Finland, Sibelius engaged Victor Nováček (1873–1914), a Hungarian violin pedagogue of Czech origin who was then teaching at the Helsinki Institute of Music (now the Sibelius Academy). Sibelius originally dedicated the concerto to the noted violinist Willy Burmester, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin. It is symphonic in scope and included an extended cadenza for the soloist that takes on the role of the development section in the first movement. 47 of Jean Sibelius, originally composed in 1904 and revised in 1905, is the only concerto by Sibelius.
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