Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto 3rd mov. Anna Karkowska( 15) LIVE

Piotr I. Czajkowski 's grandfather was a Pole . Czajkowski is writing about his Polish ancestry in his letter to Nadiezda von Meck. This grandfather married a Russian women . Their son Ily become an engineer in Russia and married 3 times. His son with his third wife of German & French ancestry (nee Acer ) is Peter.
In 1878 Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Wieniawski wrote magnificent Violin Concertos.
Czajkowski violin concerto was ready in April 1878 .He wrote it Switzerland but with Russian's spirit manifested in every breath, every musical idea,from Slavic melancholy to splendor of car's court in Mvt.I tuttis .He was not a violinist himself,. First drafts of the violin part was written with the inspiration and help of Josef Kotek . There was a gossip about their romantic liason.This is probably why this concerto had a bumpy start. Add few intrigues and wounded Leopold Auer's pride to whom Czajkowski dedicated this piece only after Kotek declared that it was not political for him to be a recipient. .News traveled fast. Scorned Auer declared music to difficult to play and refused to premier it.Much later, in an interview in New York, Auer would explain that Peter did not seek his advice before publishing the concerto and editing was needed. Well,Josef .Kotek was a very good violinist himself and pupil of Josef Joachim like Auer himself .But Auer already established his position in Saint Petersburg Conservatory from assistent of Henryk Wieniawski to very much respected , outstanding violin teacher , conductor and composer. Gossip arrived that Kotek (born in 1855 in Kamieniec Podolski ) ten years younger than Auer and not so important figure in Saint Petersburg's musical life was not only helping composer with violin part but also was the intended to premiered it. Josef Kotek politically refused because he was afraid that it will not help his career in Russia and he was right but Auer did not like to be second choice. Afterall it was Adolf Brodsky who premiered this concerto & not in Saint Petersburg ,not in Moscow, not in Russia at all and a few years later. Even Nadjezda Philaretovna von Meck's influence could not help with ugly intrigues in music world. Please remember Her name. The classical music kingdom owes her a few debts. She was a patroness of the arts with a special place in her heart for music and for Czajkowski in particular. .She was in fact a self made business woman in XIXth Century Russia! At some point when her husband's government salary was not enough to support her growing family, she persuaded him to quit his official government position and seek private contracts .It was unheard of . Carl von Meck was a railroad engineer,aristocrat and a very shy person.So Nadiezda became his business agent(Like Alice Elgar ). When Carl died he left her with 12 children and 2 private railroads in Russia.(One of them from Moscow to Riazan was extended by their sons across Volga to Ural Mountains ). Tschaikovsky was introduced to Nadiezda by Rubinstein who was his composition teacher .
On Dec. 4th 1881, in Vienna Adolf Brodsky premiered Tschaikovsky's concerto . It was a total fiasco.Savage fury broke out over his and the composer's heads. Critic Hanslick wrote after its premiere, "...atmosphere of Russian feast where everybody is drunk and the faces of the people are brutal and revolting...it stank..".This words describe more revolution or style of execution of Romanov family in 1918 than music.Well... this concerto, despite Hanslick's ugly comments, would become one of the most beloved in the violin repertoire. With melting Slavic melancholy and stamping Cossacks rhythms, the public and performers have loved it now for almost 140 years. Shame on you music critics, all you need is ears .
Anna Karkowska
Katarzyna Karkowska
Photos by WesturaP.I Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto 3rd mov., 5:39 AWESOME Harmonics


Anna Karkowska (15)Violin
Katarzyna Karkowska Piano LIVE