Ole Bull: Violin Concerto No. 2 in E minor, 'Concerto Fantastico'

It is my sincere desire that any and all remuneration that may be due me be instead forwarded to the artists and label who hold copyright.

Ole Bull (1810-1880)

Violin Concerto No. 2 in E minor, 'Concerto Fantastico'

I. Allegro affetuoso: Moderato (La Notte) 0:00
II. Adagio sostenuto (L'aurora) 8:17
III. Rondo marcato: Vivo scherzando (Il Giorno) 12:54

Annar Follesø, violin
Norwegian Radio Orchestra
Ole Kristian Ruud, conductor

Bull was born in Bergen, Norway. He was the eldest of ten children of Johan Storm Bull (1787–1838) and Anna Dorothea Borse Geelmuyden (1789–1875). His brother, Georg Andreas Bull became a noted Norwegian architect. He was also the uncle of Edvard Hagerup Bull, Norwegian judge and politician.

His father wished for him to become a minister, but he desired a musical career. At the age of four or five, he could play all of the songs he had heard his mother play on the violin. At age nine, he played first violin in the orchestra of Bergen's theatre and was a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. At eighteen, he was sent to the University of Christiania, but failed his examinations. He joined the Musical Lyceum, a musical society, and after its director Waldemar Thrane took ill, Bull became the director of Musical Lyceum and the Theater Orchestra in 1828. He also became friends with Henrik Wergeland, who later wrote a biography of Bull.

After living for a while in Germany, where he pretended to study law, he went to Paris but fared badly for a year or two. In 1832 in Paris he shared rooms with the Moravian violin virtuoso Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. He was eventually successful in becoming a high-level virtuoso, giving thousands of concerts. In England alone these included 274 in 1837, during which visit he also travelled to some of the more remote parts of Britain. Bull became very famous and made a huge fortune. He is believed to have composed more than 70 works, but only about 10 are known today. Best known is Sæterjentens søndag (The dairymaid's Sunday). He also was a clever luthier, after studies in Paris with Vuillaume. He collected many beautiful violins and violas of Amati, Gasparo da Salò, Guarneri, Stradivari and others. He was the owner of one of the finest violins of the world, made by Gasparo da Salò about 1574 for Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria. He played a Guarneri del Gesù. The violin, a gift of his widow to Bull's birthplace, is now in the Bergen Vestlandske Kustindustrimuseum. A commercial signature line of Ole Bull violins was manufactured in Germany.

Bull was caught up in a rising tide of Norwegian romantic nationalism, and acclaimed the idea of Norway as a sovereign state, separate from Sweden—which became a reality in 1905. In 1850, he co-founded the first theater in which actors spoke Norwegian rather than Danish, namely Det Norske Theater in Bergen—which later became Den Nationale Scene.

Robert Schumann once wrote that Bull was among "the greatest of all," and that he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Bull was also a friend of Franz Liszt and played with him on several occasions.

Ole Bull bought the island of Lysøen in Os, south of Bergen, in 1872. He hired architect Conrad Fredrik von der Lippe (1833-1901) to design a residence on the island. Bull died from cancer in his home on Lysøen on 17 August 1880. He had held his last concert in Chicago the same year, despite his illness. A testament to his fame was his funeral procession, perhaps the most spectacular in Norway's history. The ship transporting his body was guided by 15 steamers and a large number of smaller vessels.

Видео Ole Bull: Violin Concerto No. 2 in E minor, 'Concerto Fantastico' канала Johann Rufinatscha