Barcarolle

In the 19th Century the Paris Conservatoire was a veritable pool of talents. Here the French violinist Jean Delphin Alard also acquired his final musical polish. However, there was not much left for him to learn by then, for he had already performed a violin concerto by Viotti in his native Bayonne at the age of ten. Paganini, who subsequently heard him play, was astonished by his technical facility. Alard’s most celebrated pupil was Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate. Alard – like Bériot – provided us with concert pieces and tutorial material for the violin, and he was also happy to oblige the demand at Parisian salons for operatic fantasias and entertaining pieces such as this elegant Barcarolle op. 26/1. Plate no. 12030, published in 1852.