Viotti: Violin Concerto No.23 / Sinfonie concertanti Nos 1 & 2

The Violin Concerto No.23 was written in London in 1792. It became famous when arranged as a piano concerto by Dussek, and is a score both strong in melody and in the orchestral scoring. It also requires a soloist with a comprehensive technique, the cadenza at the end of the first movement a passage of sheer virtuosity. The central movement is a spacious Andante, with a cheerful and vivacious final Allegro containing a further brilliant cadenza.

The two Sinfonia Concertante come from Paris in 1786. It was a musical form that had come into vogue in the 18th century, and was in the form of a score for chamber group in which one or more instruments play a major role. In Viotti's two works, he scores the solo roles for two violins. The first is in three movements, fast - slow - fast, and is for strings with optional horns or oboes. The second has optional parts for double woodwind and horns, and was originally in two movements, but Viotti made a further version in which he added a third movement to create a piano concerto.