What is Henri Vieuxtemps?
[[Image:Henri Vieuxtemps.jpg|thumb|Henri Vieuxtemps]] '''Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps''' (17 February 1820 - 6 June 1881) was a [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[composer]] and [[violin|violinist.]] ==Biography== Vieuxtemps was born in [[Verviers]], Belgium. He received his first violin instruction from his father and a local teacher. He gave his first public performance at the age of six, playing a [[concerto]] by [[Pierre Rode]]. Soon he was giving concerts in surrounding cities, including [[Liège]] and [[Brussels]]. He met the violinist [[Charles Auguste de Bériot]] in Brussels. He then began to study with Bériot. In 1829, Bériot took him to [[Paris]]. He had to return to Belgium the next year because of the [[July Revolution]] and Bériot's marriage to his mistress [[Maria Malibran]]. Back in Brussels, Vieuxtemps developed his violin technique on his own. He began playing with [[Pauline Viardot]]. A tour of [[Germany]] in 1833 brought friendship with [[Louis Spohr]] and with [[Robert Schumann]]. During the following decade he visited various European cities. He impressed audiences and famous musicians such as [[Hector Berlioz]] and Paganini. Vieuxtemps wanted to become a composer as well. He took lessons with the respected [[Simon Sechter]] in [[Vienna]] and spent the winter of 1835&ndash;1836 studying composition with [[Anton Reicha]] in Paris. His first violin concerto, later published as Concerto No. 2, dates from this time. Vieuxtemps continued to compose with great success and perform throughout Europe. He played with the pianist [[Sigismond Thalberg]] in the [[United States]]. He was particularly admired in [[Russia]]. He lived there between 1846 and 1851 as a court musician of [[Nicholas I of Russia|Tsar Nicholas I]] and soloist in the Imperial Theatre. He founded the violin school of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. In 1871, he returned to Belgium to be a Professor at the Brussels Conservatory. A paralytic [[stroke]] disabled his right arm two years later. He moved to Paris again. Although he see