Vieuxtemps: Violin Concertos Nos 4 & 5

Featuring

Daniel Barenboim
Itzhak Perlman
Orchestre de Paris
Henri Vieuxtemps

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Notable Performances

Many prominent 20th-century violinists, including Jascha Heifetz, Yehudi Menuhin, and Isaac Stern, recorded Vieuxtemps's Violin Concertos 4 and 5, attesting to their enduring appeal.

Composition History

Vieuxtemps's Violin Concerto No. 4 was described by Berlioz as a "vast 'symphony with principal violin'" and by Tchaikovsky as "beautiful, poetic, very well conceived and finely orchestrated."

Critical Reception

Berlioz praised Vieuxtemps's Violin Concerto No. 5 as a "masterpiece whose melodic style is noble and dignified throughout, and whose rich harmony is constantly accentuated by the excellent and finely coloured instrumental writing."

Composition History

Vieuxtemps's Violin Concerto No. 5 is nicknamed 'Grétry' because its slow movement features a quotation from André Grétry's opera Lucile.

Composer's Artistic Vision

While often accused of showy styles, virtuoso-composers like Vieuxtemps skillfully blended the legacy of their predecessors with national folk traditions.

Composer Biography

Henri Vieuxtemps, a successor to Paganini, was one of the great violin virtuosos of the nineteenth century, alongside Sarasate and Wieniawski.

Composer Biography

Vieuxtemps was appointed Professor of violin at the St Petersburg Conservatory and later at the Brussels Conservatory, where his pupils included Eugène Ysaÿe, Jeno Hubay, and Émile Sauret.