Overture Magazine - 2015-2016 Season November-December 2015 | Page 30

{ program notes
that may be why Joachim never played
the concerto in public. The young Czech
violinist František Ondříček instead gave the
world premiere in Prague on October 14,
1883. But if Dvořák’s architecture was a bit
weak, his work possessed the qualities a
concerto really needs to succeed with
performers and the public: vivacious energy,
heartfelt emotion, grateful and showy
writing for the violin, and, most of all, an
unending succession of superb melodies.
Flouting classical convention that
demanded a lengthy orchestral exposition
before the soloist appeared, Dvořák allows
the violin to jump in after just five measures
of the orchestra’s introduction to the first
movement. And if the orchestra wants to
stress rhythm, the soloist’s rich, doublestopped song affirms immediately that
melody will be equally important. Indeed,
Dvořák’s melodic invention is so prodigal
that he immediately spins new tunes off
that principal theme, and after introducing
his second theme a few minutes later — a
mellow, Brahmsian duet for solo violin and
oboe — he throws away that attractive music for the rest of the movement. And later
he frustrates our hopes of hearing the rich
opening theme once more by chopping off
the recapitulation and substituting a meditative bridge to the second movement.
The slow second movement in F Major
is sheer beauty poised on a tender, soulful
melody for the soloist. Lest this loveliness
cloy, Dvořák interjects dramatic, passionate episodes in F minor. The violin is
mounted like a perfect jewel in an exquisite orchestral setting.
The refrain of the rondo-form finale is an
infectious high-register tune for the soloist
above orchestral violins in the syn