Béla Bartók‘s 2nd Violin Concerto premiered on this day in 1939 – 80 years ago.
The first performance was given by Hungarian virtuoso Zoltán Székely with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
The three movement work, written in the Hungarian Verbunkos style, employs a distinct twelve-tone influence – and is a much respected standard in today’s concert and competition repertoire.
