Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges (sometimes rendered Saint-George) was one of the most extraordinary figures of 18th-century French society, in an era replete with them. Born in Guadeloupe to a plantation owner and his African slave, Saint-Georges had a comprehensive education in France and was renowned as one of the great swordsmen of his time, a darling of fashionable society, a noted ladies-man, and a military colonel. He was also a virtuoso violinist and, from 1774 onward, dedicated himself to earning his living as a musician (his father, who had been giving him a handsome annuity, died that year). Though best-known for his violin concerti, Saint-Georges also wrote chamber music and, especially, operas. Indeed, though intrigue kept him from the music directorship of the Paris Opéra, he was engaged as music director of the wife of the Duke of Orléans's private theater.

This month's clip shows off not only the technical derring-do of his concerto writing, with its high acrobatics, but also his refined, melodic gifts.