Top 10 Greatest Violin Concertos of All Time

This is among the top three most beautiful pieces of all time! The first time I heard it, I was shocked and in an emotional trance for a few days. It was so beautiful and so difficult-sounding that I even thought, "I will never be able to learn this piece." However, I was so determined to learn it that I started practicing for a competition. I'm now halfway through the first movement! Bravo, Tchaikovsky! May your legacy never fade!

This was one of the first major violin concertos I listened to. When I heard Perlman play this piece, I instantly loved it. It has beautiful melodies along with difficult passages that impress anyone in the audience. While I love the classical and refined Beethoven concerto, I prefer the emotional emphasis in the Tchaikovsky concerto.

Ludwig van Beethoven - simply incomparable in my humble opinion. He produced an astonishing volume of works, many of which are outstandingly beautiful. He has to be the greatest classical composer of all time. It may be that students and experts in music find others, like Mozart and Bach, to be more technically adept. However, for the average person like me, who simply enjoys listening to the most sublime musical sounds, LvB has to be number one.

Of course, LvB also inspired my other favorite, Richard Wagner, whose pieces are unbelievably emotive and epic, never failing to move me to tears.

Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor may just be the most perfect piece of music ever written. The construction is immaculate throughout, from the passion and grace of the first movement, the delicacy and haunting qualities of the second, to the jubilant and wondrously light third. The transitions between movements are fluid, and all its themes are as memorable as they are beautiful.

I agree with the previous voter. This violin concerto is truly innovative, inspiring, and a must-have in every violinist's repertoire. It is melodious, beautiful, gorgeous, unearthly, and simply awe-inspiring - like no other. The movements are full of emotion. They are sweet, catchy, and amazing. A must-listen that should be number one!

This is the best violin concerto and the hardest to play. The only one able to perform it with the speed and dexterity required in our time was Jascha Heifetz. I have recordings of Itzhak Perlman (a great violinist) and have heard other players as well, but none of them come close to playing it like Jascha Heifetz. I used to play violin in the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, so I know what I'm talking about.

I found Mr. Perlman's interpretation to be superior to all others by far. Listen for yourself on YouTube. You don't have to be a violinist to come to this conclusion. His musicality on the violin is rare, and because of this, I listened to it over and over again.

This violin concerto might be a little hard to understand and enjoy at first. At least, that was my experience. However, when you push yourself to listen to it a few times, you will discover how true and beautiful it is. Classical pieces are hard to compare across eras, but my urge to listen to Sibelius' concerto over other great composers wins my vote for this deep and beautiful work.

To me, this concerto is the perfect marriage of emotion, technical genius, and orchestration. It truly is without equal.

The largo is as beautiful as any movement of any concerto from any era.

The slow part of the first movement of this concerto truly tugs at your heartstrings. It engulfs you with so much sadness and emotion that you don't want to let it go. You can only hear such sad notes in Beethoven's string quartets and Mahler's symphonies. There's nothing like it. Thank God and Max Bruch for this great work.

For me, this concerto was a little difficult to understand and to express a story through the music at first. After listening to other players such as Sarah Chang and Joshua Bell, who played the piece beautifully, it was much easier to interpret it.

This is a masterpiece. Vivaldi teaches how to make concertos for future generations of musicians.

The second movement of Winter. So sad, so beautiful! A great representation of nature.

Why is this not in the top ten? It is certainly hard to comprehend and takes a couple of listens to sink in, but it is an absolutely amazing concerto. The first movement is the perfect combination of vague and creepy. The two fast movements are the kind of Shostakovichian grotesque dances that turn up in many of his works. The third movement exploits the passacaglia form to its fullest, with a beauty unusual for Shostakovich. There is nothing not to love in this, and it deserves to be up there with the Beethoven and Brahms as a true masterwork.

Pure bel canto, fresh, joyful, Italy... Beyond virtuosity, this is a masterpiece by a master musician.

This should be higher on the list. Such joy, lightheartedness, and a sense of humor.

A flood of emotion flows through the high-pitched notes.

Great virtuosity is required for this melodic yet dramatic piece.

What could be nicer than this music?

Wonderful detour into "Turkish" mode. Mozart played with all kinds of expression, and here he does another perfect job.

This certainly should be in the top ten. It is a lovely and beautiful violin concerto. I played in the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra (violin) and heard and watched Nathan Milstein perform it in Phoenix a long time ago. He was a great violinist, and he played much in the style that Bell does today.

This is a very underrated piece. It has great solo and orchestral parts, loads of emotion, and a good balance between virtuosity and melody.

Saint-Saëns is the most remarkable example of the successful encounter between classicism and romanticism.

Absolutely underrated and deserving of a greater audience. The melodies are superb!

All of his violin concertos are wonderful pieces and underrated as well. This one, his most famous, should be in the top ten, with Nos. 1 and 2 in the next ten.

Delightfully eccentric composition with more post-romantic flourishes than you would have thought possible.

Some gorgeous melodies, full of emotion. I never tire of this work - probably my favorite violin concerto.

The most underrated violin concerto of all time.

So beautiful! The movements fit together wonderfully and really capture Russian music of the time. I cry every time in the second movement.

It's so beautiful and so tricky. All three movements are fantastic.

How in the world is the Barber Violin Concerto this low? It is top ten and has achieved much more fame and notoriety than many above it. Please put it where it deserves.