As in the D minor Concerto, the first movement of the
Violin Concerto in C major, Allegro maestoso, is long. For the first time, however, the structure is divided equally into two parts, as in Haydn’s model. The first theme can be defined as ‘symphonic’, with virtuoso variations for the soloist (more demanding than in Mozart’s concertos, for example); the second theme is more ‘operatic’ in character, although still with a surprising richness of technical resource, including parallel thirds and the
picchiettato technique usually associated with Paganini. The soloist offers another surprise (from 4'52), in a sort of accompanied gypsy cadenza, Moderato, before the cyclical return to the first theme. The brief Adagio (for strings only) develops a series of dissonant chords in a movement rich in
affetti, echoing Sturm und Drang; in the final bars Lidarti seems to evoke the painful opening of Pergolesi’s
Stabat mater. The Presto is like a dynamic military march that stands between a Viennese Divertissement and an Italian comic-opera-style symphony.
from notes by Dinko Fabris © 2008
