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Berg’s Violin Concerto Turns 90: The Dramatic Story of Its Premiere
We have the Ukrainian-born American violinist Louis Krasner (1903-1995) to thank for the existence of Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto. I got to know Mr. Krasner over the 13 summers that I spent at Tanglewood - from 1978 To 1990 - as a guide, office intern, BUTI, and TMC Fellow. Mr. Krasner’s teaching has continued to inspire and challenge me over my 35 years as a professional musician. I am currently writing a book about him - a biography interwoven with memories from students and faculty at the places where he taught, including Tanglewood, the New England Conservatory of Music, and Syracuse University. If you worked with Mr. Krasner and have a memory to share, please contact me.
April 2026 marks the 90th anniversary of the premiere of Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto, which has an origin story filled with drama, politics, and resilience. The details in this essay come from Louis Krasner’s speeches, interviews, and articles he wrote - materials that I’ve found while researching to write his biography.
The story begins after Louis Krasner graduated from the New England Conservatory in 1923, when he sailed to Europe to continue his studies with Carl Flesch, Lucien Capet, and Otakar Sevcik. Krasner also spent time in Vienna, where he gravitated toward composers, becoming friends with Anton Webern, Alban Berg, and Arnold Schoenberg. Through them, he became acquainted with the 12-tone style of composition, which he found to be as emotionally expressive as any music. Krasner traveled between Vienna and the United States for several years, becoming well-known as a soloist and champion of new music.
Louis Krasner was deeply affected by a performance of Wozzeck - Berg’s first opera, which helped establish him as a highly innovative and experimental composer. Krasner attended that performance in 1931 at Carnegie Hall in New York. Later, on a visit to Vienna in 1934, he sought out performances of Berg’s Lyric Suite, a six-movement quartet written with the then-new 12-tone technique. Krasner’s friends Rita and Rudolf Kurzmann invited a young local ensemble, the Galimir String Quartet, to play it in their home. That soiree turned out to be a pivotal event for Krasner. Hearing the Lyric Suite confirmed his desire to ask Berg to write a violin concerto. He also met the woman who would become his wife of almost 60 years - Adrienne Galimir, the second violinist of the quartet.
When Louis Krasner approached Berg with the request to write a concerto, Berg initially rejected the idea, saying that his style didn’t lend itself to the showiness of popular concertos by Wieniawski or Vieuxtemps. Keep reading...
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The Week in Reviews, Op. 543: Amaryn Olmeda, Oliver Neubauer, Sergey Khachatryan
In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world. Click on the highlighted links to read the entire reviews.
Amaryn Olmeda performed Miklos Rózsa’s Violin Concerto with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Fabio Luisi.
- Texas Classical Review: "A Sphinx Competition first-prize winner, Olmeda maintained a clear, singing violin tone that balanced the orchestra perfectly as she negotiated the alternately brilliant and devilish virtuoso passages peppered with multiple stops, and the more lyrical interludes, many containing exotic themes resembling those from Rózsa’s epic film scores....The concert marked 70 years since the local world premiere of Rózsa’s Violin Concerto by soloist Jascha Heifetz."
- Dallas Morning News: "On Thursday it had a soloist of jaw-dropping virtuosity, but also suave musicianship, in Amaryn Olmeda. An Australian native not yet 20, currently studying at the New England Conservatory, she dispatched the most fearsome leaps, scurries and double stops as if no trouble at all."
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For the Record, Op. 375: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Isidore String Quartet, Orli Shaham, Stanley Grill
Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening! Click on the highlighted links to obtain each album or learn more about the artists.
East Meets West
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Nancy Zhou, violin
Ye-Eun Choi, violin
Muriel Razavi, viola
Pablo Ferrández, cello
London Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Adès, conducting
"This album, the first in a series, provides an excellent example of the breadth of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s artistic curiosity. It takes us from a piece for solo violin to a duo, a string quartet, and finally a large-scale work for violin and orchestra. It also crosses borders and visits other continents..." - from program notes by Bernhard Neuhoff. The album includes "Likoo" for violin solo by Aftab Darvishi; "Gran Cadenza" for two violins by Unsuk Chin (performed with violinist Nancy Zhou); "Studie über Beethoven"(String Quartet No. 6) by Jörg Widmann; and "Air – Homage to Sibelius" by Thomas Adès. BELOW: Mutter performs "Likoo" for violin solo by Aftab Darvishi.
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V.com weekend vote: How would you rate your own violin or viola posture?
Holding the violin and bow can literally be a pain in the neck - so how does posture help or hurt our efforts?
After all, our playing posture is not just about how we look, it is also about how we feel and how we set ourselves up for using our muscles - ideally using them in a way that does not cause injury down the road.
And as most of us know, it is a journey. Your first teacher might tell you how to hold the violin or viola, but chances are that you will be tweaking the position for many years.
Where are you in your journey of holding the violin? Have you found the balance? Or do you feel either a bit droopy, or rigid? Please participate in the vote and then share your journey with posture. What changes have you made over the years? What has helped you along the way? Do you have goals for your posture?
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