Bernstein Conducts Brahms: Violin Concerto – with Gidon Kremer

Following in the footsteps of Beethoven's Violin Concerto – also in D major – Brahms's own violin concerto of 1878 is set out on a symphonic scale with an overarching sense of lyricism dominating. The solo part, composed for Brahms's old friend Joseph Joachim, weaves in and out of the orchestral texture as rarely before, with virtuosity never used as an end in itself, even in the rousing finale. The violinist in this performance is the Latvian virtuoso Gidon Kremer, one of three exciting young soloists – along with Krystian Zimerman and Mischa Maisky – who were chosen by Leonard Bernstein to feature in the complete survey of Brahms's orchestral works he filmed with the Wiener Philharmoniker in Vienna's Musikverein in the early 1980s.

Soloist: 

Gidon Kremer (Violin)

Ensemble: 

Wiener Philharmoniker

Conductor: 

Leonard Bernstein