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Donald Macleod and guest Yshani Perinpanayagam explore the lives and music of Émile Waldteufel and Niccolò Paganini, composers who are most famous today for a single work.

Last Easter, Composer of the Week explored the lives of ten composers whose music we adore but mainly only for a lone composition. This week, Donald Macleod makes a second selection of classical ‘One Hit Wonders’ - ten more composers who have been catapulted into the mainstream thanks to the surprising popularity of just one of their pieces. He’s joined by pianist and music director, Yshani Perinpanayagam, to uncover these composers' stories and to share examples of their best music. We’ll hear the familiar hits alongside plenty of captivating music that’s less well-known.

Today Donald and Yshani bring the composer behind the Skater’s Waltz into the limelight, and discuss how Waldteufel measures up to his great rival, the ‘waltz king’ himself, Johann Strauss. They also explore the life and music of Paganini whose most famous work inspired dozens of other composers to create their own versions of its instantly recognisable melody.

Waldteufel: The Skaters' Waltz, Op 183
Wiener Volksopernorchester, conducted by Franz Bauer-Theussl

Waldteufel: Solitude Waltz, Op 174
Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice, conducted by Alfred Walter

Paganini: Caprice in A minor, Op 1 No 24
Itzhak Perlman, violin

Paganini (arr. Sedlar): Moses Fantasy
Nemanja Radulović, violin
Les Trilles du Diable, Orchestre Symphonique de la Raï, conducted by Eiji Oue

Paganini: Sonata No 6 in F major: Minuet – Allegretto
Marco Tamayo, guitar

Paganini: Violin Concerto No 1 in D major, (3rd mvt)
Itzhak Perlman, violin
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Lawrence Foster