Wieniawski: Works for Violin

A child prodigy, Henryk Wieniawski was just eight when he was accepted into the violin class at the Paris Conservatoire. A much-celebrated virtuoso, he then held the position of professor of violin at the conservatories in St. Petersburg and, later, Brussels before his untimely death in Moscow at age 44. Itzhak Perlman has made few more enjoyable albums than this pairing of these two violin concertos. The lovely slow movement of the Violin Concerto No. 1 in F Sharp Minor draws the most gorgeously songful response from Perlman, while the fireworks of the Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor’s finale find him in his element, his breathtaking technique making light of the work’s fearsome challenges. All of which is joined here by comparably dazzling performances of five Wieniawski miniatures, for which Perlman is partnered with his long-standing accompanist Samuel Sanders.