Should Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto be performed on the erhu?

Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is a masterpiece of lyricism with just the right amount of melancholy in the second movement. That’s expected of Tchaikovsky, as he started composing it in Clarens, Switzerland, where he was staying in order to recover from a nervous breakdown caused by his sham marriage.

The first movement, in particular, with the exposition of the main theme, feels very balletic—like dancers making pirouettes.

For this reason, we love this version of the Erhu, a two-stringed bowed instrument used both in traditional and contemporary Chinese music. Actually, it takes the edge off Tchaikovsky’s melody, producing an overall less scratchy and more soothing sound.

Now, however, we can’t help wondering what the virtuosic third movement would sound like.

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