Ernst was considered by Joseph Joachim, a renowned violinist and composer, to be the greatest living violinist of his time, though he is now almost forgotten.
Composer Biography
Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, the composer, was a pupil of Joseph Böhm at the Vienna Conservatory, whose other pupils included Joseph Joachim and Ede Reményi.
Instruments
Ilya Grubert plays a 1740 violin by Pietro Guarnieri of Venice, which was formerly owned by the famous Polish violinist Henryk Wieniawski.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Ernst's technical accomplishments as a violinist and composer reflected the strong influence of Paganini, whose innovations he incorporated into his virtuoso playing.
Performer Biography
Dmitry Yablonsky, the conductor, made his orchestral debut at age nine with Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major.
Composer Biography
Ernst took composition lessons from Ignaz von Seyfried, who had been a piano pupil of Mozart and a composition pupil of Albrechtsberger and Winter.
Performer Biography
Ilya Grubert, the violinist on this recording, won first prize in both the Genova Paganini and Moscow Tchaikovsky Competitions in 1978.
