Summer Carnival
Saturday 20 February
Joshua Weilerstein conductor
Dale Barltrop violin
Dvořák Carnival
Barber Violin Concerto
Tchaikovsky Symphony No.5
In his second Sidney Myer Free Concert, Joshua Weilerstein conducts more Dvořák and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5. These flank the Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber, with soloist, MSO Concertmaster Dale Barltrop. Barber’s lyrical and (dare we say?) romantic concerto is embedded in the modern repertoire, but was not always thus. In 1940, as Barber was struggling with the score, renowned violin teacher Albert Meiff called it ‘far from the requirements of a modern violinist’ and that the score ‘required surgical operation by a specialist’, offering to wield the scalpel himself. Fortunately, Barber ignored this gratuitous offer.