Thread: First Experience with Schumann's Violin Concerto

So I purchased Schumann's Violin Concerto with Bell, Dohnányi & Cleveland from 1994 the other day. Having been a long-time admirer of the composer's Cello Concerto and 4th Symphony, I was very excited about this piece.

Wow, what a weird experience...At the moment I'm not really sure how I feel about this work. I'm not very good at puting musical experiences to words, so I focus only on the first movement to make this short.

First of all, what a strange way to start off. The listener is thrown into a chaotic theme played by what must be a full symphony orchestra...It sounds "Schumannesque" enough, although not as clear and interesting as his masterworks. Then after a while the violin is introduced in a pretty solitary manner, totally changing the tempo and mood. It's almost like a new piece starting. Then the orchestra takes over, and about halfway through the movement finally a very fine, lyrical theme raises. After that the whole bloody thing is repeated and the movement is ended as sudden as it started.

Really, I'm confused about the piece.

Any thoughts?

I have a recording from Gidon Kremer/Nikolaus Harnoncourt on teldec. I have to say that Schumann's violin concerto (for me) is arguably one of the worst concertos I've ever heard from a tier one composer.

I don't know, but that piece always seemed like an orchestral bar fight to me. So many lucid emotions asserting themselves in every which way. I kind of like it, myself.