‘Some of the most otherworldly violin lines I can imagine’ - Jack Liebeck on Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto no.1

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I was 13 when I first heard Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto no.1. A friend had invited me to Abbey Road Studios to watch Maxim Vengerov record the concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra. At that time Vengerov was my idol; I’d sit in the front row of every concert watching the incredible passion and musical power of this 19-year-old as he performed so unbelievably well. He was the benchmark for everything I was aspiring towards, and after hearing him perform the concerto I began to look for every recording of it that I could find. I became slightly obsessed with a live recording from 1960, made by Nathan Milstein with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. I was a bit scared by it: he played the second movement so fast but so accurately, and with incredible spirit. I thought he could barely be human! So that piece became bound up with my own desire to be a great violinist.

I didn’t really practise the concerto myself until I was 19. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra invited me to perform as a soloist and I suggested Prokofiev’s First, although I couldn’t yet play it by then. I tend to need a reason to learn something before I start properly practising it, and I was desperate for the chance to learn this piece. The first movement has an extraterrestrial quality – some of the most ethereal, otherworldly violin lines I can imagine. When I’m given a new fiddle to try out, I always play the first few lines of this movement for a thorough road-test. Then the second subject has a kind of spiky, naughty character that allows you to bring in all the off-rhythms…