Charles Auguste de Bériot: Violin Concerto No.5, in D major, Op.55, Philippe Quint (violin)

Charles Auguste de Bériot - Violin Concerto No.5 in D major, Op.55, Philippe Quint (violin), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kirk Trevor (conductor) Charles Auguste de Bériot (20 February 1802 – 8 June 1870) was a Belgian violinist and composer. In 1810 he moved to France, where he studied violin with Jean-François Tiby, a pupil of Giovanni Battista Viotti. Bériot was performing publicly by age nine. He was later encouraged by Viotti himself and briefly worked with Pierre Baillot but did not embrace all their teachings. Bériot’s compositional and performance style made a synthesis of Niccolò Paganini’s virtuosic fireworks with the elegance and emotional sensitivity of the classic French tradition. De Bériot composed a great amount of violin music including ten concertos. Although these are now rarely heard, his pedagogical compositions are still of use for violin students. De Bériot's pioneering violin technique and Romantic style of composition make his concertos and etudes an important stepping stone for the serious violin student wishing to gain a firm foundation before studying the major concertos of the Romantic era.