Charlie Siem’s second album for Warner Classics combines Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor - one of the best loved works in the violin repertoire - with two less familiar pieces: Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No.1 in F sharp Minor and Ole Bull’s Cantabile Dolorosa e Rondo giocoso.

Henryk Wieniawski wrote some of the most challenging works in the violin repertoire, including two ferociously difficult concertos. While Wieniawski’s second Violin Concerto is more frequently performed  and better-known, Violin Concerto No.1 is a dazzling work brimming with virtuosic pyrotechnics as well as expansive romantic melodies.

The last piece on the album is a relatively unknown work by the Norwegian composer Ole Bull. This charismatic violin virtuoso, who led a colourful life and had an exciting international career, had a reputation at one time to rival that of his contemporary Paganini. Charlie himself has a Norwegian background, and recently found out that he is in fact related to his long standing hero.

“I’ve been inspired by him for about10 years… partly because of his character, the story of his life, the things that he did. He was a phenomenal violinist and he seems to almost inhabit the mythical folk culture in Norway but he’s forgotten largely elsewhere, even amongst violinists. And so I think it’s great to bring him to the surface, especially now I have this very personal connection to him…”