Following this performance, Eugene Ormandy scheduled its official premiere in a pair of performances by Albert Spalding with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the Academy of Music in February 1941. Those performances were followed on February 11, 1941, by a repeat performance in Carnegie Hall, and from that point, the piece rapidly entered the standard violin and orchestral repertoire, and has become one of the most frequently performed of all 20th-century concertos. It received its UK premiere by Eda Kersey at a Proms concert in 1943. Recordings The concerto has been recorded and played by a number of violinists, including Augustin Hadelich, Louis Kaufman, Ruggiero Ricci, Elmar Oliveira, Leonid Kogan, Anne Akiko Meyers, Joshua Bell, Giora Schmidt, James Ehnes, Hilary Hahn, Itzhak Perlman, Johan Dalene, Gil Shaham and Isaac Stern. The version made in 1964 by Stern with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein remains a celebrated romantic interpretation, while the 1988 recording by Meyers with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has been highly praised. A transcription of the concerto for flute and orchestra was recorded and issued on the now defunct Collins Classics label and later re-released on the Regis label with Jennifer Stinton as the soloist. Form Allegro Andante Presto in moto perpetuo Barber provided these program notes for the premiere performance: The first movement—allegro molto moderato—begins with a lyrical first subject announced at once by the solo violin, without any orchestral introduction. This movement as a whole has perhaps more the character of a sonata than concerto form. The second movement—andante sostenuto—is introduced by an extended oboe solo. The violin enters with a contrasting and rhapsodic theme, after which it repeats the oboe melody of the beginning. The last movement, a perpetuum mobile, exploits the more brilliant and virtuosic character of the violin. The concerto is scored for two each of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, and trumpets; timpani, snare drum, piano, and strings. References Sources Various correspondences of Fels, Barber, and Meiff quoted in the content and in-line cited: , The Strad magazine—November 1995 (Barber's Violin Concerto: The True Story) External links Historical Society of Pennsylvania letters and an in-depth portrayal of the violinist, Iso Briselli linked to this violin concerto. Historical Society of Pennsylvania Letters from HSP helped solve this musical mystery. Read about it in this article from the Milkwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel (see next link) MSO, Almond to perform concerto with a controversial