This Naxos release really deserves wide attention, for it contains something rather rare: the world's recorded premiere of a major lost violin concerto. The Violin Concerto, Op. 28, of Norwegian composer and virtuoso Johan Halvorsen was well received at its 1909 premiere but was burned by the composer in the late 1920s. The young Canadian violinist who had premiered the work, however, took a copy home with her, and it was recently discovered at the University of Toronto music library. The violinist on the present recording, ...
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This Naxos release really deserves wide attention, for it contains something rather rare: the world's recorded premiere of a major lost violin concerto. The Violin Concerto, Op. 28, of Norwegian composer and virtuoso Johan Halvorsen was well received at its 1909 premiere but was burned by the composer in the late 1920s. The young Canadian violinist who had premiered the work, however, took a copy home with her, and it was recently discovered at the University of Toronto music library. The violinist on the present recording, Henning Kraggerud, set out to learn it anew, a considerable undertaking. It sounds less like Grieg than like a Norwegian version of Josef Suk, with strong folklore elements including, at times, passages in which the violin steps into the role of a Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. Sample the finale to hear fine Scandinavian nationalism. The Halvorsen concerto is joined with the Violin Concerto, Op. 33, of Carl Nielsen, not terribly often played itself, and one that matches the Halvorsen...
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![Halvorsen/Nielsen: Violin Concertos; Svendsen Romance [Naxos: 8573738]](https://www1.alibris-static.com/cover/o27400dbqmf_t.jpg)
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