Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 (with Score)

Henryk Wieniawski:
Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 (with Score)
Composed: 1856 - 1862
Violin: Itzhak Perlman
Conductor: Daniel Barenboim
Orchestra: Orchestre de Paris

00:00 1. Allegro moderato (D minor)
11:33 2. Romance: Andante non troppo (B-flat major)
16:40 3. Allegro con fuoco – Allegro moderato (à la Zingara) (D minor – D major)

Henryk Wieniawski (10 July 1835 – 31 March 1880) was born in Lublin, Congress Poland (Russian Empire). His talent for playing the violin was recognised early, and in 1843 he was accepted by the Paris Conservatoire, where special exceptions were made to admit him, as he wasn't French and was only eight years old. In 1847, he published his first opus, a Grand Caprice Fantastique, the start of a catalogue of 24 opus numbers.

Henryk Wieniawski was considered a violinist of great ability and wrote some very important works in the violin repertoire, including two technically demanding violin concertos, the second of which (in D minor, 1862) is more often performed than the first (in F-sharp minor, 1853).

Written during the relatively stable period of Wieniawski’s residence in St Petersburg, the second Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 22 is generally considered as his finest work. Richly melodic and highly idiomatic the work balances the elements of style dispassionately and serenely. Wieniawski first played the work in St Petersburg on 27 November 1862 under the baton of Anton Rubinstein.

Both main elements of the first movement, its sombre, restless first subject, and its lyrical pendant (begun by a solo horn) are discussed freely and subject to dazzling embellishments by the solo violin. This movement includes a demanding variety of technique, including chromatic glissandi, double stops, arpeggios, sixths, octaves, thirds, chromatic scales, and artificial harmonics, not to mention a myriad of bowing techniques.