Although the great virtuoso would live another ten years after composing it, Henryk Wieniawski's second concert polonaise for violin and orchestra (or piano), the Polonaise brillante in A major, Op. 21, was one of the last works he wrote. Only the Reminiscences of San Francisco, Op. 24 seems to have been composed after this polonaise, though a couple of works, including the famous Violin Concerto No. 2, bear higher opus numbers. The Polonaise brillante is rather less famous than its sister piece of 18 years earlier, the Polonaise de concert in D, Op. 4). The later polonaise is a longer and more difficult piece, making it less accessible to violinists of lower rank and less suitable as a quick concert finale. But while the A major polonaise lilves up to its title with a brilliance far beyond that of the earlier D major piece, it is a also a less flexible and less tightly crafted piece. Perhaps the years have simply aged it more than the D major. Still, if refined violinistic fireworks are the goal, one can hardly do better than the Polonaise brillante, and there is genuine salon charm to the F major, dolce e tranquillo melody that carries the work's middle portion. ~ Blair Johnston, All Music Guide
