Kreisler, Breinschmid: Concertos for Violin Benjamin Schmid, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien & Lorenz C. Aichner, Salzburg Wind Philharmonic & Hansjörg Angerer

• 1 Kreisler: Praeludium and Allegro “In The Style of Pugnani”: I - Praeludium 02:30
• 2 Kreisler: Praeludium and Allegro “In The Style of Pugnani”: II - Allegro 03:14
• 3 Breinschmid: Concerto for Beni Schmid for Solo Violin and String Orchestra: I - Allegro moderato 06:27
• 4 Breinschmid: Concerto for Beni Schmid for Solo Violin and String Orchestra: II - Andante con moto 08:14
• 5 Breinschmid: Concerto for Beni Schmid for Solo Violin and String Orchestra: III - Allegro scherzando 07:49
• 6 Breinschmid: Concerto for Beni Schmid for Solo Violin and String Orchestra: IV - Allegro vivace 04:59
• 7 Kreisler: Viennese Rhapsodic Fantasietta 08:20
• 8 Kreisler: Concerto in One Movement after Niccolò Paganini’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 6: Allegro maestoso (48 kHz) 07:22
• 9 Kreisler: Concerto in One Movement after Niccolò Paganini’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 6: A tempo poco meno mosso e molto tranquillo (48 kHz) 06:29
• 10 Kreisler: Concerto in One Movement after Niccolò Paganini’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 6: Cadenza (48 kHz) 03:44
• Total Runtime 59:08

Info for Kreisler, Breinschmid: Concertos for Violin

On the occasion of the 2025 Kreisler anniversary year, the exceptional violinist Benjamin Schmid posed the question: What happens for the violin in Vienna roughly 100 years after Fritz Kreisler? The result is this phenomenal recording with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna under Lorenz Aichner, featuring orchestrated works by Kreisler and the world premiere recording of the "Concerto for Beni for Solo Violin and String Orchestra" (2023) by Georg Breinschmid, born in Vienna in 1973. To quote the dedicatee, it is a "magnificent violin concerto that, from my perspective, shares much with the musical understanding of Fritz Kreisler: music with unadulterated joy of playing, which devotes itself immediately and as artfully as possible to the parameters of melody, harmonic experience, and dance-like (or groovy) rhythm. There is always a close relationship to instrumental virtuosity and sonority - some-thing very strongly pronounced in both composers. The album includes Fritz Kreisler's Preludium and Allegro "in the Style of Pugnani" and the "Viennese Rhapsodic Fantasietta" in arrangements for (string) orchestra. Kreisler's "Concerto in One Movement", based on the first movement of Paganini's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 6, is presented here in an arrangement for wind orchestra, recorded with the Salzburg Wind Philharmonic under Hansjorg Angerer.

Benjamin Schmid, violin
ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna
Lorenz Aichner, conductor
Salzburg Wind Philharmonic (tracks 8-10)
Hansjörg Angerer, conductor (tracks 8-10)

Benjamin Schmid
A truly multifaceted and most versatile of today’s violinists, Viennese-born violinist Benjamin Schmid is renowned for his extraordinarily broad artistic range. In addition to over 75 concertos in his repertoire, he champions works by composers such as Hartmann, Gulda, Korngold, Muthspiel, Szymanowski, Wolf-Ferrari, Lutoslawski and Reger. Schmid also has a successful career in jazz and regularly presents his Hommage à Grappelli programme at jazz venues and classical concert halls alike.

Artistic Director of the Musica Vitae Chamber Orchestra in Sweden from 2020 until 2024, Benjamin Schmid now continues his successful artistic work in diverse play/​direct projects with the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester. Further highlights of the 2024/25 season include appearances with Wuppertaler Sinfonieorchester, Zagreb Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano and Gothenburg Opera Orchestra amongst many others.

Benjamin Schmid has a close relationship with Wiener Philharmoniker and their notable collaborations include the opening concert of the Salzburger Festspiele as well as performances at Vienna Musikverein and, in 2011, at Schloss Schönbrunn with the Paganini-Kreisler Concerto under the baton of Valery Gergiev, which was broadcast in over 60 countries and released on CD and DVD by Deutsche Grammophon.

He has a discography of over 50 albums, many of which have won critical acclaim and awards including the ECHO Klassik, Gramophone Editor’s Choice and Strad Selection. His recording of Ligeti’s Violin Concerto was named Record of the Month by Gramophone magazine, and his album of Wolf-Ferrari’s Violin Concerto was nominated for the Vierteljahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

Benjamin Schmid won the Carl Flesch International Competition in 1992, where he also received the Mozart, Beethoven and Audience prizes. He holds a professorship at the Mozarteum Salzburg and teaches masterclasses at Hochschule der Künste Bern. He was a member of the jury at the 2017 ARD International Music Competition for violin, and Chairman of the Jury at the 2019 International Leopold Mozart Violin Competition.

Regular collaborations include with conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Christoph von Dohnányi, Riccardo Chailly, Yuri Temirkanov, John Storgårds and Hannu Lintu, and with orchestras including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Concerto Köln. US engagaments have included the Baltimore and Houston Symphony orchestras, Washington National Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic and Naples Philharmonic Jazz and Curtis Institute orchestras. In Asia, he appears with the likes of New Japan Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony and at the Hong Kong Festival.

Benjamin Schmid plays the ​“ex-Viotti” Stradivarius of 1718, on generous loan by the Österreichische Nationalbank.

Booklet for Kreisler, Breinschmid: Concertos for Violin