Works for violin and piano by Vitali, Debussy, and Szymanowski performed by Angelo Xiang Yu, violin, and Dina Vainshtein, piano on April 20, 2014.

• Vitali: Chaconne in G Minor for violin and piano
• Debussy: Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor
• Szymanowski: Nocturne and Tarentella, Op. 28

Today, we’ll introduce a violinist who we think you’ll be hearing much more about: Angelo Xiang Yu. He swept a number of major competitions, winning the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in 2010. He attended New England Conservatory here in Boston for his undergraduate education and Artist Diploma and, this fall, will continue studying there for his Master’s degree.

For his Gardner Museum recital in April 2014, he brought with him a program that, as we’ll hear today, showcased his breadth and virtuosity.

The Vitali Chaconne has a notable history with virtuoso violinists. In fact, Jascha Heifetz chose this piece as the curtain-raiser for his own American debut, at Carnegie Hall in 1917. But according to modern scholars, it’s quite unlikely that this work was actually written by its supposed Baroque-era author, Tomaso Antonio Vitali, a violinist from Bologna. The piece has a distinctly Romantic flavor for a work that supposedly hails from the early 1700’s.

We’ll hear the Chaconne first, followed by the Debussy Sonata – one of the composer’s final works – and finally the Szymanowki Nocturne and Tarantella, all performed by violinist Xiang Yu and pianist Dina Vainshtein.