Friday, Feb. 3, sees the return of violinist Terry Tam at the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre. The concert begins at 7:30 pm.
He will be playing Sibelius’s ‘Violin Concerto’ with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestra Tania Miller.
Jean Sibelius wrote his only concerto in 1904 and revised it considerably in 1905.
Like many composers of his era, he thought big: all sections of the orchestra play a significant part in this work, not just the solo violin.
Sibelius originally dedicated the concerto to a top-rated violinist Willy Burmester, who promised to play it in Berlin.
However Sibelius was not the first conductor to move the premiere of a work for financial reasons, and Burmester couldn’t make the gig in Helsinki.
However, the first run of the concerto proved too much for the Czech violinist brought in at almost the last minute, and the premiere was a bust.
Sibelius recognized his work needed more revision and sharpened his pencil.
A version premiered in 1905 in Berlin with Richard Strauss conducting.
Sibelius wasn’t there and neither was Burmester who, although asked to be the soloist, was again unavailable.
The story is that the Burmester, miffed, refused to ever play the concerto, and it could well be a true tale since in those days, top violinists were as famous as rock stars and as temperamental.
In addition, the orchestra will also be giving a world premiere to Jeffrey Ryan’s work, ‘Water’, as well as performing ‘Symphony No. 1’ by Johannes Brahms.
Tickets are $42 each for adults, $25 for adults in rows A, B, and C and $5 for all children under 10 in all zones. Get them through the Cowichan Ticket centre, online at cowichanpac.ca or by calling 250-748-7529.
