Concerto

By Aram Ilyich Khachaturian

I don't know why this concerto isn't performed at least half as much as the Tchaikovsky. Like the Tchaikovsky, it's both technically very difficult and very Russian {I don't know what an Armenian concerto sounds like}. Don't attempt to play this piece unless you can...

handle the Tchaikovsky & Mendelssohn, as there are similarities to both of them. There are a lot of notes in this concerto, especially the 3rd mov. Oistrakh is the man to emulate. It was written with his tone in mind & dedicated to him.

This concerto is one of my favorites. It is a beautiful piece. The recording I have is by Oistrakh himself (the concerto was dedicated to him). It is not as flashy and virtuostic as other pieces (Paganini No. 1 for example) but the harmonies in this piece are anything but...

traditional, which makes some passages kind of awkward to play until you put some serious work into it. I had to chose between the Mendelsohnn E minor, the Goldmark, and this, and I chose this because it seems like everybody plays the Mendelsohnn, and I wasn't even able to find a recording of the Goldmark, so this is kind of a happy medium between the overplayed and the vanished. A very satisfying piece, I feel like it is my first "big" concerto.

If you've never heard the Melodiya recording of Oistrakh playing this Concerto with a Russian Orchestra - then you have missed out. This is the best edition to get. It was dedicated to Oistrakh.. he played it magnificently, and what a privelage it is to have his bowings and fingerings