Repertoire: The BEST Sibelius Violin Concerto 

I was hoping it would be mentioned that Sibelius personally wrote to Ida Handel to congratulate her... “I congratulate you on the great success, but most of all I congratulate myself, that my concerto has found an interpreter of your rare standard.”

That Hilary Hahn Sibelius/Schoenberg recording is a miracle. I used to play it in my car, and unsuspecting passengers would hear the Schoenberg and have no idea what it was. The reaction was almost always positive. And the Sibelius performance is slow and dark. She totally gets the style and the mood. That CD is one of my all-time favourites.

My favorite recordings of Sibelius are Hilary’s newer interpretations on RU-vid, more specifically her 2019 recording with radio France and Mikko Frank. Her attack and grit are unmatched, her newer recording also have so much passion.

I heard the Mullova/Ozawa recording on the radio while driving about a year ago and I was startled how incredible her performance was. Up to them I had loved the Heifetz (1959) and the Oistrakh/Ormandy reissue on Alto (and still do) but I nearly plotzed when I heard Mullova. Just fantastic!

I learned this wonderful piece by the (former) Philips recording from the sixties with Szeryng and Rozhdestvensky. And I come back to it even nowadays for the unbelievable sweetness of his tone and the wonderful phrasing.

Your introductory comments on the nature of Sibelius's violin concerto are so insightful and appropriate. An important music lesson on its own. Hilary Hahn performed the concerto here in NZ with the NZSO a few years ago. I was literally in tears with the opening of the concerto, it was overwhelmingly beautiful.

My absolute favorite violin concerto, and as a timpanist, I never get tired of playing it. Always a challenge. Your talk here explains some of the reasons I love it, that I was not aware of. Thank you!

Thank you Mr. Hurwitz for prefacing the discussion of individual recordings with a musical appreciation of the piece in general. Very enlightening. I'll hear the piece differently the next time I listen to it. I bought the Hahn Schoenberg/Sibelius, without having ever heard either piece before, to expand my musical horizons. Despite my limited familiarity with twelve tone music, and the difficulty I have with much of it, I found the Schoenberg perfectly comprehensible and really very exciting. And the two pieces do complement each other. I love love love this CD.

Thanks Dave for mentioning Ida Haendel's live Supraphon recording of the Sibelius. Not many know of it, but it's to my mind the most thrilling live performance of the work. And of course her studio recording with Berglund is essential, but let's face it, very neglected by the CD buying public. Still, as great as they both are, the one performance I will cling to until my dying day, hugging it closely to my chest, is Oistrakh and Ormandy. It's the one I hear inside my head, dare I say I obsess over. It's become a kind of soundtrack that plays in my head when I least expect it. Inspired choices one and all Dave. Thanks so much!

For me the second Heifetz recording inspite of the concerns regarding the orchestral contribution, remains unsurpassed and unequaled. Hearing it the first time about 20 years ago was one of the greatest highlights of my life- I was stunned to silence and amazement- it just blew me away!!! And still does like no other recording I've heard- including the GREAT recordings of Francescatti, Oistrahk and in my view also Szeryng.

Camilla Wicks and Lisa Batiashvilli for me, but it’s true we are blessed with many excellent recordings of this masterpiece!

Omg what a wonderfully thrilling piece of music. Sibelius is such a musical genius and great craftsman. Thank you David for the discovery.

The Kremer recording is fantastic. The last movement is absolutely thrilling.

The Christian Ferras/Karajan and the Hilary Hahn are my favourites.

Thank you so much Mr Hurwitz for recommending this Mullova recording. It is strange that although Sibelius is one of my favourite composers over many years now I have never liked this concerto. I've always wanted to like it but somehow never could. Our response to music is so personal and subjective. All I can say is that I'm now in love with this concerto. There is something about her tone (I think you used the word dusky) which I find intensly moving, particularly in the second movement. So, thank you once again. I'm now off to listen to the Tchaikovsky.

Listening to the original version made me understand why Sibelius revised it. And in this respect, I fully support the composer's wishes.

Brilliant! Hilarious! One of your best. Thanks for introducing me to the Ozawa/Mullova recording: it is indeed magnificent.

When I was in Los Angeles frequenting The Record Collector, which is practically Mecca for used classical vinyl, I asked the owner, Sanders Chase, which version of the Sibelius Violin Concerto he would recommend. Unhesitatingly, he told me to get Tossy Spivakovsky's recording with Tauno Hannikainen Conducting The London Symphony Orchestra on the Everest label. I did, and never looked back (not even at Heifetz). What a ferocious, brooding, dark, and dramatic interpretation.

No violin concerto moves me like the Sibelius. I saw Sarah Chang play it at 10 years old and was honoured to sit next to her teacher the great Dorothy DeLay. So many marvellous recordings. I love the Heifetz, Haendl, Neveu and Oistrakh recordings in particular.

Here in Finland we now hear the Sibelius violin concerto over and over again in the 12th International Sibelius violin competition. All great performances. Impossble to say which is the best...

Thanks for discussing the best recordings of this great concerto. I remember when the Heifetz/Hendl and Oistrakh/Ormandy came out and I wanted to get to know the piece. Well, High Fidelity dissed the Oistrakh and recommended the Heifetz. Stereo Review preferred the Oistrakh (I think Martin Bookspan reviewed it). Being a huge Ormandy fan, I went with Oistrakh and nearly wore the record out. Only later did I add Accardo/Davis. Then when I started buying CDs I had to have Lin/Salonen also for the coupling. I was and am really taken by the Nielsen concerto. He’s one of those composers with a sense of humor witnessed by the last movement of his violin concerto. For Sibelius I have since added Hahn (also to get the Schoenberg) and for a real contrast Kuusisto/Segerstam. All recordings that I treasure!

Totally agree with this review. A miracle of acoustic planning indeed.

Thanks for mentioning the Accardo. I have a fondness for it, as well as Oistrakh, Hahn, Vengerov, and Mullova. But they are all so well done that it is to choose just one.

Agree wholeheartedly with your choice of Mullova - she is amazing in both the Sibelius and the Tchaikovsky. I never hear any tentativeness in her playing - she just goes for it. She also has the creds to back it up: Grand Prix du Disque for her recording of these pieces and top prizes in Tchaikovsky and Sibelius competitions.

I just recently found this channel and am enjoying the content very much. The Sibelius concerto has always been my favorite, and so fun to perform (from my spot in the back of the violin section) because of the substance and beautiful orchestration. I'm wondering if you might consider expanding on your interesting and insightful introductory comments in a "How it's done" video. I love the Hahn recording, thank you for the other recommendations!

This video has some of your most quotable remarks. 'Now I know that sounds dogmatic...but it's really true... ' And you are right! The orchestration of this concerto is superb, and Sibelian through and through. And thanks for bringing my attention to the wonderful Ozawa/Mullova recording. I thought I knew this concerto well, but you have given me so many fresh insights.

Lin Cho Liang's recording is the first one I had of the Sibelius concerto, and I strongly recommend it for being very much different from most other recording. He has this silvery/shimmery tone that matches the concerto perfectly, with an interpretation that isn't of the full- bodied dramatic sort. The engineering of the sound is superb as well! Highly recommend his Prokofiev violin concertos too. I thought Kavakos's recording of both the original and revised version would be featured too, his revised one more towards the dark side, but the very wide dynamic range can be distracting.

i listen few days ago ,on your recommendations the clement and joachim violin concertos with rachel barton pine....oh what a nice discovery...! beautiful clement concerto,and beautiful joachim concerto with ''tzigane'' finale...ecxiting....! thank you

Camilla Wicks did a great recording in 1952 which got Sibelius' seal of approval.

I think a Brahms violin sonata survey would be a great topic for a future video. There is truly so much variety among recordings. My pick is Christian Tetzlaff anf Lars Vogt!!!

So many great recordings of this piece, as you say, though for me it always comes down to GInette Neveu w/ Susskind and the Philharmonia (thrillingly remastered). Such astonishing technique (the double stops!) and great rhapsodic sweep throughout. Sibelius praised her playing of the concerto as being "sensitive" and it is; but it's also passionate and full of enormous energy--different from Heifetz but no less compelling. She's just got character to burn. One of the great recordings of the work.

Ive always found that Prokofiev concerto 1 and Sibelius concerto contain some of the most stunning orchestral writing in any violin concerto. I love Gil Shaham for Prokofiev 1 and Itzhak Perlman with Andre Previn for Sibelius.

I'm very glad you gave a boost to the Haendel/Berglund recording, which might be my personal favorite. Haendel really is good, but so are Hahn, Oistrakh etc. But Berglund really gets Sibelius, and the structural sweep of the piece really comes through here. This is a concerto that can sound sort of episodic and lopsided in some performances, but Berglund makes a brilliant case for the symphonic end of things, and the big moments really hit. I do really like that Hilary Hahn recording, and yes it's a first rate performance of the Schoenberg concerto. I still haven't really warmed to that piece though, and I like a lot of Schoenberg. I prefer the Piano Concerto, for instance, which actually has a bit of wit and memorable melodic ideas (love that little bassoon lick).

It's good that someone toots horn for Bernstein's recording of the Sibelius concerto. It must be one of the fastest ever, really makes your blood circulate. Another quite good (although imo not as good as Bernstein's) is the one by Christian Ferras and Herbert von Karajan. The only problem I have with that recording is the finale which is too slow. I don't mind a bit if the first two movements are on the slower side but the finale becomes sluggish if it's too slow. Along with many of the recordings you mentioned here one of my personal favorites is the live recording by Lisa Batiashvili and Sakari Oramo with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. But I know, there are an abundance of great recordings of the Sibelius concerto. You simply have to draw the line somewhere.

Would love a chat about the influence of what instrument the composer played (and, to some extent, how well) as you mention here. Like Ormandy once pointed out about building orchestral sound (Stokowski's being from his organist background, Ormandy saying his from being a violinist), I think the subject fascinating for a number of us. Long ago Saint-Saens pointed out in an essay that the compositional, orchestrating uniqueness, and harmonic world of Berlioz was his advantage of not having been brought up on the piano, so that he escaped the "devastating influence" of the 'enharmonic'! Anyway, without necessarily being that technical, I think your mention of a chat on such influences would be great. Would also love one on the use or abuse of cadenza's in concerto's-perhaps a WORST and BEST chat?

Interestingly, Heifitz also bumped the beginning of a passage near the end of the last movement up by a third in his Chicago recording. I suppose that's neither good nor bad. I likely wouldn't have noticed if the liner notes hadn't told me. I've always loved Hahn's Sibelius interpretations.

I recently stumbled across this channel, and am so glad I did! I read Mr. Hurwitz’s book on Sibelius a few years ago and enjoyed it immensely. My favorite recording of the Concerto is Frank Peter Zimmerman with the Helsinki Philharmonic and John Storgards. There is a raw, almost fierce energy from both soloist and orchestra that just seems oh so right for this piece. Subsequently I listened to the Joshua Bell and didn’t care for it at all. His playing seemed to “sweet”. Technically perfect, but lacking emotional depth. Tom Heikkinen

Ah! I finally have a top disc in my collection. I saw Mullova play the Sibelius in Chicago with Abbado conducting and ran out to get it - on Lp! Great! I am a great Hillary fan as well. She has great sound and presence in concert.

Great choices, as always. The Stern-Ormandy and the Kuusisto-Segerstam are among my favorites, too. Incidentally, Kuusisto was only around 20 when that recording was done. He sounded much more mature, to me anyway.

Dave (may I presume since I feel I almost know you personally through these videos?) I was delighted to hear you praise the relatively unknown Kuusisto/Segerstam recording. I was fortunate enough to hear the duo splendidly perform the piece in Helsinki at the time of the recording;it was a delightful evening capped by a visit to the Sibelius monument. Despite that my favorite rendition of the work is the Francescatti/Bernstein/NYP which has a truly remarkable accompaniment by Maestro Bernstein that brings back memories of chilly nights in the wilds of Finland. (I married a Finn, so I think I can speak with authority on Finnish frigidity-:) Francescatti, from sunny Mediterranean climes was the last great violinist I would have expected to nail the piece-but his playing is revelatory. I also enjoy Chung/Previn with one of the Brit outfits; it helped establish her well deserved reputation for excellence. Ironically, Previn also accompanied Chung rival (& his future bride) in probably the worst version I have heard-and I say that as a devotee of Anne-Sophie. Finally, aren’t you a bit hard on old Walter Hendl,who I used to have a drink or two with in his latter years. Like almost all Heifetz recordings the great man is so closely miked that the CSO sounds like it is playing in another room at times. That is my problem with many Heifetz recordings: they are more about Heifetz than the material. It is hard for many youngsters today to realize what a superstar he was. I envy anyone who heard him play live: THAT must have been the ultimate concert hall experience!

Heifetz first recording for Emi with Beecham and LPO (the actually 1rst recording of the concerto) is much better imho than his later one with RCA, even though the former was recorded with a potato xD. That one for me is close to unsurpassed. Surprised you didn’t mention Ginette Neveu, Ferras, Perlman or Shaham; I love those too. Oh, and I agree with you; the beginning of the concerto is really special. One of the most special passages of the whole violin repertoire. Great video as allways. Really interesting picks, specially your top 3. I must listen to those. More homework!!

Great insights into this endlessly fascinating piece. Thx. Would like to mention Repins Erato recording- coupled with a great Tchaikovsky.. would love to hear a Nielsen VC talk, I also love this piece.. If you do, could you include his pieces for violin solo? About the only works for solo violin that I don’t find tedious.

The recording from which I got to know this piece, and love it, was Mutter/Previn. That had something of the problem you mentioned for another version: the violin and the orchestra sound like they are in different worlds. Hilary Hahn is my favorite. I also like Vilde Frang's recording. I feel like there are about a thousand more I should listen to...

Why not do the best not well known but should be known . I grew up with Francescatti playing this and it remains outstanding !Zino really brings what it needs !

Nice analysis of the Sibelius Concerto. I never get tired of listening to this work, unlike some other standard repertoire violin concertos. If it were just a matter of the violin soloist, I would favor Heifetz above all others. But you're right about Hendel and the CSO; they don't measure up, do they? My first recording of the work was the Oistrakh/Ormandy back in the days of Columbia/Odyssey LPs. Since then, however, there are many others I have come to prefer. For some reason Oistrakh, for all is regal virtuosity doesn't seem fully engaged, though Ormandy, as always is magnificent. Staying with Ormandy, I really resonate with the "throbbing" romanticism of Stern; but the real surprise for me when I purchased the Ormandy/Sibelius box was the Dylana Jansen. She sounds passionately involved throughout, and her sweet, rich but never cloying tone seems just right. The Accardo and Lin are often on my player, and I'll have to go back and listen to the Haendel/Berglund again. I have it in my collection but for some reason it made virtually no impression on me the few times I've played it. In the end, I don't think I have a favorite reocording of this work. I love all or most of them for different reasons. If pressed, I might well cite Stern/Ormandy as the one I'd take to the proverbial desert island. But I'd miss Heifetz' almost spookly chanelling of the composer, which makes up for Hendl's relative mediocrity.

Dave, I'm so glad you mentioned the Mullova-Ozawa rendition: intense, often savage in its intensity. I just wondered if you've seen her live 1980 performance at the Sibelius festival - utterly passionate and heartfelt. (Viktoria Mullova plays Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, op.47 youtube). Sorry for going "outside the box" but since you love the Mullova approach as I do also, I thought you might enjoy her "live" performance. Too bad there isn't a cd available of this amazing performance. Great review! Many thanks!

As to Sibelius violin concerto, after Francescatti/Bernstein and Gitlis which are my favourite versions, I would like to mention Frang/Sodergard because of her startling emotional sincerity and inspired musical imagination that rivet close attention.

Well, I'm extremely pleased to hear and see David approval of Hilary Hahn here ! Not so gracious about another female Cello player though this is a different piece and composer. I'll be interested to see David's reviews on Hilary's Bach, both solo and with orchestral and of course Hilary's electric Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1. We just had 3 fabulous performances of the Prokofiev by Hilary in Australia !

Great, very informative presentation, Dave. I never thought about Sibelius' orchestration of this work before in relation to the soloist. The Oistrakh/Ormandy was my first exposure to the concerto and is still my favorite out of a dozen or so. Ormandy recorded it three times, according to his discography. the last on RCA with Dylana Jenson, one I've never heard. (But are you sure they were just vacuuming outside in the hall or were they rehearsing for an upcoming performance of Arnold's Grand, Grand Overture?)

I love your reviews! Such knowledge and sensitivity! I couldn't agree more wirh you. But...😅 i couldn't find a recording of Leonid Kogan of the concerto, one of the best, talking about not getting recognition. I would go a litte away from fabricated studio perfection and have a look to Christian Ferras recording and Camilla Wicks. Just adding even more to the giantic mix as you well mention. Thanks so much for your honest and heart felt comments!

Nice to hear the brief acknowledgement of the original version. Absolutely agree that it should never replace the final version, but it was very interesting to hear his first thoughts and then see how he improved it after further pondering. Similarly with the first version of the Fifth Symphony. With the VC I still struggle a bit with the last couple of minutes; I'm not sure Sibelius ever quite worked out how to bring his unique conception to a truly effective or climactic close.

Hi David, I have Julian Sitkovetsky on LP and am quite fond of it, among others--too bad he died young.

Dave, thank you for the video as usual. I was curious asx to what people think about Boris Belkin 's version with Vladimir Ashkenazy and Philharmonia ? I have that on LP along with the serenades

Lin recorded also a quite remarkable traversal of Mozart violin concertos

Mullova is also my go to Sibelius Violin Concerto but not with Ozawa. I'm talking about a videotaped performance with Mullova, Jorma Panula and FRSO from 1980 Sibelius Competition final round. Call me weird but that performance is all I want to hear in this piece

The only good interesting thing about the 1rst version is the pointless and strange ysaye/bach like cadenza at the end of the 1rst movement which he later completely erased. It doesn’t fit in the piece but it is beautiful to hear on itself. Would do for an interesting encore as a curiosity after playing the whole concert, instead of listening for the 1000s time to some solo bach…

Pekka Kuusisto is going to be Artist in Residence in collaboration with our local symphony orchestra. He is going to do the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius violin concerto… I am very excited!

I would like to mention the recording of Lisa Batiashvili with Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin. The dark sound of the orchestra is perfect for this work, and the transparent playing creates a perfect partnership with the soloist. In the 1st movement (from 5:43) the orchestra excels, and I am especially impressed by the double bass at the end of the passage when the solo violin enters (6:48). It seems to me that people don’t appreciate this recording enough. Lisa is, in my opinion, a very imposing violinist whose interpretations are intense, romantic, one could say that I hear the Russian violin school of Oistrakh and Kogan. Barenboim brilliantly and sensitively conducts an orchestra that sounds massive, but not too bulky and slow. It is a powerful, romantic and brilliant interpretation of the concert that sounds fresh, but has a touch of those legendary recordings of Oistrakh, Heifetz and Kogan.

Wonderful! When I began listening to classical music in the mid 90’s this was the first VC that I bought...so I imprinted on the ASM reading, though now I prefer HH. I’m gonna see Joshua Bell perform it in September so I’m glad to hear your thoughts on him. Do you knw anything about Juraj Valčuha as a conductor?

My favorite is Ferras/Karajan and I saw other comments referring to it and that you like it too (it would have crushed me if you didn't), but completely understand that it's impossible to be exhaustive. I would love if you would do a review of Ferras recordings: his Franck and Fauré sonatas with Barbizet are fantastic, the amazing Chausson Concert in D, the Poem too, and I really love his Brahms cto with Karajan (with Kreisler cadenza).

Would you please comment on the main differences between the live Haendel/Ancerl from Prague (which I have) and the version she did with Berglund.

Dear Dave, what do you think about shaham and sinopoli? Do you also think there is a noticeable cut in the 2nd movement close to the end?

I love Christian Ferras play.😁

To make it worse/better, great many great violinists have done this live in concert, as evidenced on youtube. Then you get to see them play.

I still have the Columbia Stereo lp of Zino Francescatti and the NY Phil. playing the Sibelius concerto. Excellent notes by Bernard Rabb. But I do like Hilary Hahn's version.

I do like my organisms that way!

After meeting Ivry Gitlis and watching a documentary on him, I purchased a Vox cd with his recording of the concerto (Jascha Horenstein conducting). I'd be curious to know how you would rate this performance.

Dear David: You didn't mention one of the best recording of this great concerto: Ferras/Karajan & BPO. For me the best of all. Best regards.

To bad Sibelius didn't compose a cello concerto. I wonder how it would've played with the dark chords of the cello.

I would like to have a recording by Hilary Hahn, who I have heard on line. Francescatti is One of my favorites is Ricci/Fjelstad. I also like Francescatti. I never warmed up the Ida Haendel recording. The PG likes Lin. Heifetz/Hendl never turned me on, probably because of the orchestra.

I think you should have mentioned the earlier Heifetz recording. For me, that is the pinnacle...no other recording comes close and with rerecording techniques it sounds modern...this exactly how Sibelius would have heard it in his head imo....Mullova is as cold as ice...

Two San Fran alum, Stern and Ricci always got "crapped on" as Dave refers to it. They were acclaimed, but never as much as they should have been. Maybe it was a West Coast thing.

How would you rate Guila Bustabo's 1940 version with Berlin State Opera Orchestra conducted by Fritz Zaun?

Worst recording of this piece was surely Yehudi Menuhin and Adrian Boult. Groan. Just like Dave was saying it was a shame Ida Haendel didn't record that much - it's a shame than YM was over-exposed playing pieces he wasn't really up to. He recorded Walton VC when he no longer had the chops and there must have been players like Alfredo Campoli who played these works wonderfully gritting their teeth whilst Yehudi got all the love

Dear Mr Hurwitz, will you also give Strauss, Schumann, Paganini 1 and/or Vieuxtemps 5 an outing ? :)

I see my preferred version isn't included... Understandably so, as it is in mono, and rarer than pearls in restaurant oysters: Camilla Wicks with Sixten Ehrling conducting. There's something almost primal in the opening 4 measures of the 3d mvmt; that chopping rhythm in the basses and timpani is glorious! Originally Capitol, it was for a short time available from Biddulph (coupled with Fartein Valen), but long OOP. It IS on YT, though, but of course lacking in the sheer visceralness. And... Heifetz/ Boult and Neveu are also must-listens. Otherwise, Oistrakh/ Ormandy for a semi modern recording any day. Bernt Krogstad...

Wick, Oistrakh+Rozhdestvenskyy, Mullova, Batiashvili II (with Barenboim) for me. Among the recent I think Hadelich and Lintu are pretty special. Lintu grabs the overall structure and renders the orchestral colors unlike anything else. Hadelich varies greatly his vibrato to make a statement (sometime it can be shocking the purposely ugly sound he produces).

I remember attending a violin competition and back then I didn't know much about the repertoire, so I thought everyone would play something "unique". Lets just say the sibelius got burned into my memory. Indeed, the mainstream grand violin concerto repertoire is surprisingly slim. Its basicallyBeethoven,Brahms,Mendelssohn,Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and maybe Shostakovich.

The Schoenberg has so much invention bar to bar that it's almost too inventive and is a great concerto of the twentieth century.

Mullova Hands down! Absolutely! 👍

For curiosity's sake, Dave, why did you not recommend any of Perlman's recording of the Sibelius concerto "for good reason"?

I was under the impression that Sibelius was not a great violinist. Not in terms of skill -- I'm sure he was better than he gave himself credit for -- but he wanted to become a soloist, and he didn't have the opportunities to pursue that career path. Is that correct?

Joshua Bell does not have a good violin.