The present recording made by HR Frankfurt as part of the German premiere of the Schoenberg Violin Concerto in June 1949, is considered historic.The letter that Schoenberg addressed to Tibor Varga, thanking him for this “overwhelming presentation of my music”, has gone down in music history: “[…] It really sounds as if you had known the piece for 25 years, your rendering is so mature, so expressive, so beautifully shaped. I must say that I have never come across such a good performance without having myself helped with every detail. The fact that you discovered all this by yourself is not only evidence of your outstanding talent; it gratifies me, besides, in that it shows me how distinctly my music is able to speak to a true musician: he can know and understand me without explanations, simply through the medium of the written notes. I am very grateful to you for this experience, and I wish I were younger in order to be able to provide you with more material of this kind. […]”
Indeed, it was Tibor Varga, who assured the Schoenberg Violin Concerto – which he had studied in only 2 weeks and performed with only 3 fingers of the left hand, due to an injury – a prime position in musical life. Like the Violin Concertos of Bartók and Berg, he presented this work in numerous countries, among others as part of the “Promenade Concerts” in the London Royal Albert Hall.Visit
