The soloist opens Prokofiev’s violin concerto #2 alone and unequivocally in G minor. Yet by the end of this initial phrase, the muted violas and basses enter in the remote key of B minor. The home key is soon restored, however, and the warm second theme enters in the relative major, B-flat.
In the recapitulation, it is the cellos and basses that bring back the opening theme. When they get to the point where the orchestra had redirected the motion to B minor, it is the soloist who now enters in G minor, completing a classical harmonic reconciliation.
The Andante assai is in many ways the sunlight version of the dark lyricism of the first movement. The soloist arcs a radiant, long-breathed melody over pizzicato strings, their two-against-three metrical divergence suggesting a gentle jazz rubato more than real tension. This is launched in E-flat major, and at the close of the soloist’s initial statement, strings take it up, muted and on B as in the first movement, though this time in major mode.
Prokofiev’s rondo finale is in B major, and this is dance music, angular and athletic. The premiere performance was scheduled for Madrid, and Prokofiev added castanets and Spanish ornamentation and cross-accents to the mix. It ends with a big coda, mostly with the soloist dancing furiously in 5/4 with just percussion and a bass line – the final flurry is marked tumultuoso.
Here is violinist Janine Jansen to play this concerto for you:
