Swan Lake: Three Solos from the Ballet for Violin and Piano

Concertmaster solos in Tchaikovsky's music take a prominent place. His third and fourth Suite (Mozartiana) and the second movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2 feature the solo violin. In the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, the violin solos were performed by the Solo Violinist of the Tsar, a title bestowed by the tsar upon the finest violinists in all of Russia. As the ballet solos were performed by the likes of Henri Wieniawski and Leopold Auer, the composers gave free reign to their creative inspiration and wrote some of their most gorgeous lyrical and virtuoso music for solo violin. The White Swan Pas de deux and the Black Swan Pas de deux are of extraordinary beauty expressing love and impending drama. The Russian Dance is a virtuoso showpiece foreshadowing the last movement of the composer's violin concerto.