Henryk Wieniawski

Recognized as a violin prodigy, Wieniawski earned comparison with Paganini through his command of technically demanding virtuoso passages and his nuanced, sensitive expression. Private instruction with Massart at the Paris Conservatoire brought him the first prize in violin. Appearances with his brother Jozef, who played piano, took the pair to Russia, where Vieuxtemps publicly praised Henryk’s gifts. An outstanding concert career ensued, carrying Wieniawski across the European continent, into Moscow and St. Petersburg, and onto a two-year American tour with Anton Rubenstein; Henryk alone performed more than two hundred times during the first of those years. Between 1860 and 1872 he remained twelve years in St. Petersburg, leading both the orchestra and the string quartet of the Russian Musical Society and thereby shaping many younger players. In 1875 he assumed the violin professorship at the Brussels Conservatory that Vieuxtemps had occupied until his death, continuing to hold the post while maintaining an active performing schedule. His two violin concertos rank as the most important works, the second now established in the international violin repertoire. The first makes extreme technical demands, while the second embodies the essential traits of the Romantic era through its intense emotional energy and panache. The etudes “L’ecole moderne” and “Etudes-caprices” remain among the most challenging studies written for the instrument.