Despite being one of the most renowned violinists at the beginning of the 20th century, it wasn’t until Mischa Elman was nearly 40 years old before he made recording of a full-length work: the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. Composed in 1878 Tchaikovsky’s sole violin concerto was originally dedicated to Elman’s teacher Leopold Auer. Although Auer initially found the technical aspects of the work unsuitable for the instrument, he later changed his opinion. He not only performed the work frequently but also taught it to all his students. Mischa Elman was the first of the Auer students to record the concerto, and his celebrated 1929 recording has long been admired for its emotional intensity and heartfelt soulfulness.

Two Baroque violin concertos by Vivaldi and J.S. Bach – as well as Beethoven’s two Romances for solo violin and orchestra – are also featured on this album. Together all five works make up all of Mischa Elman’s HMV recordings with orchestra. Due to the financial crisis of the Great Depression, after this series of records made for in London from 1929-32, Elman did not make any further concerto recordings with orchestra until after the Second World War.