it was very rare for a composer to leave a cadenza unwritten for the soloist to improvise as in the days of Mozart and Beethoven. The linking of the three movements also influenced other concertos, such as Liszt's Second Piano Concerto. The concerto itself was an instant success, warmly received at its premiere and well received by contemporary critics. By the end of the nineteenth century, the piece was already considered one of the greatest violin concertos in the repertoire. It would become one of Mendelssohn's most popular pieces, and was still regularly performed even when interest in his music declined in the early twentieth century. In 1906, the year before his death, the celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim told the guests at his 75th birthday party: The work has developed a reputation as an essential one for aspiring violin virtuosi to conquer. This has led to its becoming virtually ubiquitous in the discography of concert violinists, even including those who were only active at the very dawn of recorded sound and of whom very little recorded music exists, such as Eugène Ysaÿe. Even so, it remains technically challenging and is generally considered to be as difficult as many other famous counterparts. References External links BBC Discovering Music (browse for .ram file containing discussion of this work) ABC Classic FM Deep Listen guide based on a recording by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra with Niki Vasilakis. Mendelssohn Concertos by Felix Mendelssohn 1844 compositions Compositions in E minor