Henze: Violin Concerto No. 2 & Il Vitalino raddoppiato

Hans Werner Henze’s Violin Concerto No. 2 occupies a space between the theatre and concert stages. A dramatic work with a role for a speaker, it comes from the period of his interest in ‘action music’ and is scored for a large experimental chamber orchestra. Equally Janus-faced, but very different, is the Italianate Il Vitalino raddoppiato, vividly colored and overtly romantic ‘chamber music’ that looks back to the example of Tomaso Vitali. The Concerto is heard in an archive performance conducted by the composer. This volume concludes Peter Sheppard Skærved’s survey of Henze’s works for violin and orchestra (the First and Third Concertos are here.)