Henryk Wieniawski

Henryk Wieniawski was a Polish violinist and composer. He was born in 1835 in Lublin, and he took his first music lessons in his hometown. 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 nine years old. He was taught by Lambert Massart, and he graduated with distinction. After graduation, Henryk toured extensively in Poland, Russia, Germany, England and France. He gave many recitals, where he was often accompanied by his brother Józef on piano. Between 1860 1872, he lived in St. Petersburg, where he was concertmaster to the imperial court and a professor at the conservatory. His worldwide reputation was established after his tour of America between 1872 and 1874, which he did with Antoni Rubenstein. Upon his return from this tour, Wieniawski replaced Henri Vieuxtemps as violin professor at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. In 1879, he moved to Moscow, and died there a year later. Wieniawski was both a performer and composer. As a violinist, he was often compared to Paganini, due to his impressive performance style, and virtuosic technique. He wrote some very important works in the violin repertoire. Józef Joachim, the great violinist and authority of those times, wrote about Wieniawski in his diary: he has always been the most extravagant and reckless virtuoso that I have ever seen. Unless one has witnessed his most daring, acrobatic jumps, one cannot imagine what Wieniawski’s hands are capable of achieving.