Leonidas Kavakos discusses Brahms's Violin Concerto

The Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos, newly signed to Decca, has just released his first concerto recording for the label: Brahms's Violin Concerto.

Gramophone's editor-in-chief James Jolly caught up with Kavakos when he was in London to perform the work at the Barbican with the Gewandhausorchester and Riccardo Chailly (his partners on the recording). They talked about the concerto, the role of Joseph Joachim in the work's creation, about the tradition of Leipzig's Gewandhausorchester (who gave the concerto's premiere on New Year's Day, 1879) and about Kavakos's teacher Joseph Gingold.

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