The Violin Concerto No. 5 in A minor was composed by Niccolò Paganini in 1830. It is one of the most widely performed out of Paganini's last four violin concertos, which are owned by Paganini's estate and are not in the public domain. A typical performance lasts about 40 minutes.
The concerto is in three movements:
Only the solo part of Paganini's Concerto No.5 is extant; the original part either was not written down or has not yet been discovered, although the former seems more likely. According to the manuscript, it was composed no earlier than the spring of 1830 and it was actually written after the fourth concerto. This concerto by the most famous of all violin virtuosi can be called a monologue for the violin. Thus, even though mutilated, the Concerto No.5 has not actually been lost; since the essential solo part exists the concerto can be completely performed if suitably reconstructed. In 1958 Vittorio Baglioni entrusted this task to Frederico Mompellio on behalf of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, and in September of 1959, the concerto received its premier performance. Franco Gulli was the soloist and Luciano Rosada the conductor. The success of this performance induced Gulli to present the concerto in many European cities.
The first theme of the majestic first movement, a theme that generates from Le Streghe (Witches's Dance)and the beginning of the second are also found in Paganini's "Warsaw" sonata. The Andante is perhaps musically teh central section of the work. In the third movement the recurrent idea is an ingenious melody "alla campanella". According to his custom, Paganini omits the Trio in the finale, since the soloist is limited here to purely virtuoso passages, evidently the composer had intended that the orchestra should play the theme. The first movement is in sonata form and alternates between A minor and A major, and starts with a very long orchestral introduction preceding the solo voice, reminiscent of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1. The second movement is a slow and mournful andante, the third a rondo brilliant, primarily in C Major. Most of the orchestration was not written by Paganini and was completed after his death.
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