John Cambre wrote: >I'm not so sure I would dismiss SSPs 1st Violin Concerto as so lightweight. >The 2nd is a lighter piece in comparison, but I find the first one to be >quite strong. It never entered my mind that Prokofiev Op. 19 is "lightweight"--it's an absolutely characteristic piece of its time for him and a masterpiece of lyricism, sardonic wit and orchestral legerdemain... I heard another objection to it after conducting a performance in 1995 with the outstanding young emigre violinist Dmitri Berlinski, as part of an all-Russian program [Prokofiev "War and Peace" overture, concerto, intermission, Kallinikov Symphony No. 1]. An audience member "of a certain age" confronted me at the post concert reception and pointedly informed me how much she had enjoyed "the second half of the concert". Unable to resist this bait, I enquired what she had disliked about the two Prokofiev works and she told me that she found them [especially the Violin Concerto] harsh, ugly, discordant, and so forth. I suggested that Prokofiev was one of the great lyricists of the 20th century, and that Op. 19 was one of his most moving achievements in this respect....we agreed to disagree, ultimately... However, I worked hard to restrain myself and not to suggest that the work [written in 1917, hence approximately 88 years old at the time] was deserving of more respect--it was, after all, at least a decade older than she was! Esprit d'escalier in reverse, I suppose....I do try to behave.... Joel Lazar