Violinist Julia Fischer plays Peter Tchaikovsky's Sérénade mélancolique in B flat minor together with the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its principal conductor Cristian Măcelaru. Recorded live on 27.01.2024 in the Kölner Philharmonie.

Peter Tchaikovsky - Sérénade mélancolique in B flat minor op. 26

Julia Fischer, violin
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Cristian Măcelaru, conductor

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Introduction to the work:
There is a story behind every musical work. Sometimes a spectacular one, sometimes an inconspicuous one. Did a composition arise from an inner urge? Is it inspired by an external impression? Or was the composer inspired by the phenomenal playing of a musician? This was the case with Peter Tchaikovsky and his "Sérénade mélancolique". In 1874, the Russian composer wrote a review of a concerto by violinist Leopold Auer. Tchaikovsky praised the Hungarian for "the great expressiveness, the thoughtful finesse and poetry of the interpretation". The two only knew each other by name, as they taught at different conservatories: Tchaikovsky in Moscow, Auer in St. Petersburg. But as early as January 1875, they became personally acquainted, initiated by Tchaikovsky's colleague Nikolai Rubinstein. And they immediately made plans. Initially, they agreed that Tchaikovsky would write a smaller work for violin and orchestra for Auer. And just one month later, the "Sérénade mélancolique" was completed, almost at the same time as the later famous first piano concerto. It is certainly no coincidence that both works are in the rather rare key of B flat minor. Initially, however, Auer hesitated to perform the "Sérénade". It probably seemed a little too "mélancolique" to him and the solo part not virtuosic or effective enough. The soloist at the premiere in January 1876 was therefore Adolph Brodsky, who, like Tchaikovsky, taught at the Moscow Conservatory.
Despite Leopold Auer's reserved reaction to the Sérénade, Tchaikovsky realized another plan for the violinist in 1878: the Violin Concerto in D major. However, Auer was even less enthusiastic about this; parts of the solo part seemed unconvincing to him - and so he refused to play the concerto. Again, it was Adolph Brodsky who accepted without hesitation. Tchaikovsky drew the conclusion from this and dedicated the concerto to Brodsky rather than Auer. He also withdrew the dedication for the "Sérénade mélancolique" from the original dedicatee, which his publisher then took into account in later editions.
(Text: Otto Hagedorn)