NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Krzysztof Urbański

»Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto gives us, for the first time, the hideous notion that there can be music which stinks to the ear.« That was the verdict of hard-nosed and influential Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick. What troubled him, above all, was the wild folk element in the final movement. Times have changed: these days the piece is appreciated not only for the catchy melody in the first movement, but also for the spontaneous earthiness of the finale, making it one of the most popular of all Romantic violin concertos.