Sibelius had released the first version of his violin concerto in 1904. It was performed by Victor Novacek (different from Ottokar Novacek) with the Helsinki Philharmonic. Given very little prep time, the concert was regarded to have been a failure. Sibelius then made significant revisions to the piece, including the removal of a second cadenza and changes to the orchestration, and premiered the final version in 1905. The violinist was Karel Halir with the Berlin Court Orchestra, conducted by Richard Strauss. Although the piece was initially dedicated to Willy Burmester, he was unavailable to perform it