Most violin concertos of the standard repertory date from the Romantic period—roughly the last three quarters of the 19th century. The concertos of Mendelssohn and Brahms are its pinnacles. The plateau that extends between them, while just short of their towering perfection, still reaches imposing heights. It consists of a group of works embodying the freedom of form and richness of expression that are the earmarks of musical Romanticism. Virtuoso violinist-composers are responsible for some of this music, which grew out of their intimate knowledge of the character, capabilities and soul of their instrument. But there were others too who, without being virtuosos, understood it completely. They knew its technical problems and its place in the orchestral framework—and they knew how to write enduring, sensuous melodies for it. This album presents examples of both schools. Wieniawski and Conus represent the virtuoso-composer, Bruch the all-encompassing musician. And in the hands of a violinist like Heifetz the two schools find a common denominator.In his long career as composer and teacher Max Bruch created music in many fields, but he is known to the world primarily for his violin music and for the Kol Nidrei. His First Violin Concerto has long been established among the best-known works in the repertory. In fact, in the shadow of its overwhelming popularity little attention was given to Bruch's other works for the violin until Heifetz recorded the captivating Scottish Fantasy. And it was Heifetz who made the long overdue first recording of Bruch's Concerto No. 2, a good example of his impressive qualities as a composer: his gift of melodic inspiration, his varieties in color and rhythm, and his freely conceived and often unconventional ideas of construction.Julius Conus, though hardly known today, was greatly esteemed in his time in his native Moscow as a violinist and as a composer extraordinarily sensitive to the potential of his instrument. The one-movement concerto (in three linked sections), which is his finest work, was given its premiere in Moscow in 1898 and became a staple of the repertoire of Russian violinists of the day. It is to Heifetz's credit that by performing—and recording—the work, he brought it to international attention.The following excerpts from a review in the New York Times of December 7, 1939, bear expert witness to the compelling attributes of the score and specifically to Heifetz's performance of it: a tone of the greatest intensity, vibrant with life and feeling ... was applied from the opening bit of recitative to the brilliant coda ... with seemingly inexhaustible imagination for effects of color and light and shade ... But it was in the concerto's central Adagio division that Mr. Heifetz reached the apex of his achievement on this occasion. In an interpretation of almost unbelievable beauty, the violinist transfigured this music by way of richness of tone and sensitiveness of feeling that worked with shattering effect. The years between this performance and his definitive recording brought even greater penetration into his interpretation of the concerto.Virtuosity was at home in the music of Henryk Wieniawski, but not to the extent of smothering true musical values. He was one of the best violinists that ever lived, and composed only for his instrument. At the age of 11 he finished the master class of the Paris Conservatoire at the head of his group, and went on to a career that took him on celebrated tours all over the world until his untimely deathWieniawski's First Concerto is little known, but the Second (1870) is one of the perennial favorites in the repertory, a work that is a masterful blending of appealing sentiment and fiery abandon. It was significantly associated with the career of Heifetz. This was the concerto he played at his sensational American debut in 1917, while still in his teens. Some 18 years later he became the first artist ever to record it. And in 1954 he again demonstrated the fiery virtuosity and sensuous quality of tone that made his interpretation of this work unsurpassed over the decades.