Virtuoso Violinists at the BBC

For the past 60 years,

the BBC has been showcasing many of the world's greatest violinists.

Tonight, I'll be showing you some of my personal favourites.

Yehudi Menuhin, Nigel Kennedy,

Itzhak Perlman,

Anne-Sophie Mutter,

Maxim Vengerov,

Sarah Chang and many, many more.

APPLAUSE

That was Bruch's first violin concerto in G minor

and my performance of it at the Last Night of the Proms,

a momentous occasion for me.

Unforgettable.

One of the most incredible things about the violin is

definitely its versatility,

but it's also an instrument that adopts very accurately

the personality of the person playing the instrument,

which means that all violinists sound entirely different

and have an extremely personal expression.

We're going to start with a hugely important

but very subtle violinist, Nathan Milstein.

His sound sort of reminds me of silver.

It's extremely pure and extremely direct.

If purity and directness characterise Nathan Milstein,

dazzling virtuosity is the trademark of our next virtuoso violinist.

In 1999, at the Proms, an expectant crowd was waiting

for the return of Maxim Vengerov for his final encore.

He decided to play Bazzini's fiendishly difficult

Dance Of The Goblins

and just listen to how he does it.

APPLAUSE

Maxim Vengerov playing Bazzini.

Our next virtuoso violinist, Mischa Elman,

was born in Russia in 1891

and had a performing career spanning over six decades.

Mischa Elman was hugely popular.

He, in fact, sold over two million records.

I think that popularity had something to do with

how good he makes you feel.

Listening to his playing is like a warm embrace,

it's something that just makes you feel good inside.

I could listen to his playing all day long.

Mischa Elman playing the music of Fritz Kreisler.

Like so many composers tonight, a world-renowned violinist himself.

Kreisler really understood the personality of the violin.

His gift for melody takes us

back to the grand drawing rooms of prewar Vienna.

And next we're going to hear one of his best loved pieces

played by the Polish-born violinist Henryk Szeryng.

Henryk Szeryng playing Kreisler.

Is that upbeat all right for you, or shall I give you two beats?

Our next virtuoso violinist, Isaac Stern,

was a friend of presidents and of prime ministers.

Good.

In 1966, the BBC filmed him rehearsing and directing

the London Symphony Orchestra as they prepared to play

Mozart's third violin concerto at the Royal Festival Hall.

Some of you are still not vibrating the second note.

You're spoiling it for those who do.

It's a dead sound. It's a da-da-da-da da-da-DUM.

Much of the violin's technical wizardry we know today

comes from the 19th century

and a young violinist who played so frenetically

that he broke the strings of his instrument.

His portrait hangs in the museum at the Royal Academy Of Music.

The violinist and composer Niccolo Paganini entirely

revolutionised playing the violin.

He was a virtuoso like no other before him.

Paganini took the importance of the performer,

as opposed to the composition,

to a whole new level.

He would perform all kinds of tricks

and all kinds of show-off techniques on stage,

and the performance was absolutely focused on him

and his ability, and what he could do.

In this 1995 film, we saw Itzhak Perlman's dazzling technique,

a direct musical descendant of not only Paganini,

but also of Pablo de Sarasate,

the other great 19th-century composer virtuoso.

Listen out for the left-hand pizzicato

and ricochet towards the end of this one.

Itzhak Perlman came to nationwide fame when he was just 13.

Ed Sullivan invited the child prodigy onto his legendary show.

Violinists do start early.

Although I did begin playing the violin very young,

I would never at all class myself as a child prodigy.

On the other hand, Sarah Chang, I think

most of the music world would agree, was the epitome of a child prodigy.

Her recordings of Tchaikovsky violin concerto and a variety of other

impossibly difficult works when she was as young as 11, 12 and 13

not only have unbelievable virtuosity

and incredible perfection,

but a very mature musical expression and a lot of soul.

Here she is playing the very challenging

Carmen Fantasy by Sarasate.

In 1927, our next violinist, Yehudi Menuhin,

took to the stage as a young boy still in shorts

and wowed Carnegie Hall, playing Beethoven's Violin Concerto.

I was fortunate enough to attend the Yehudi Menuhin School

from the ages of 10 to 15 and remember like it was yesterday.

He was someone with an unbelievable aura and presence,

and even just him being there, standing in front of you,

would change the way you felt and change the way you played.

In 1943, his playing brought solace to millions in his famous

wartime live broadcast with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

20 years later, he returned to the BBC

to record Beethoven's Violin Concerto

with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis.

The opening of the second movement and his entry, I think,

has got to be one of the most pure and heavenly moments of music making

I have ever heard in my life.

Another student of the Yehudi Menuhin School,

like me, was Nigel Kennedy.

With his Aston Villa shirt and spiky hair,

and outlandish image, that was what was talked about a lot,

but, in actual fact, Nigel Kennedy is a fantastic, fantastic violinist

and his interpretation of The Four Seasons brought the

classical violin and classical music to millions and millions of people.

Nigel's interpretation of Vivaldi was unique,

but it isn't the only one.

A very personal favourite of mine is the Italian baroque specialist

Giuliano Carmignola.

I sort of felt like my whole world was turned upside down

the very first time I heard a recording of him

playing Italian baroque music.

It was Vivaldi, in fact.

His style of playing is as if he is improvising it as he is playing it.

There's a certain way about producing the sound

that never lands in any one place.

It's like the sound is just being spun and improvised.

I very much turned my whole idea of playing baroque music

upside down after hearing that recording

and he's been an enormous influence to me,

and, I think, one of the most unique violinists of our day.

When people are talking about the violin,

they're most often thinking about this part.

But in actual fact, to play the violin,

you really need this part, which is the bow.

The bow, of course, can do all kinds of pyrotechnics,

lots of very impressive fast strokes,

but one of the most integral things about the bow is being able

to pull the sound out, create a long melody and really sing.

I think violinists would unanimously agree that Anne-Sophie Mutter

is one of the strongest examples of an enormous

and beautiful sound of all violinists playing today.

I was first introduced to a violinist that is now

possibly my number one favourite, David Oistrakh,

when I was around ten years old.

Born in the Soviet Union,

he became one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century and

counted the composers Shostakovich and Prokofiev amongst his friends.

His way of producing sound is really like no other.

There is never a moment that is without

integrity and quality and beauty,

and that is not that easy to do on the violin.

And four years later, David Oistrakh was

part of one of the greatest musical treats ever

recorded on British television,

playing Bach's double violin concerto with Yehudi Menuhin.

One of the greatest violinists of our time is Gidon Kremer.

He was an enormous influence on me

and pretty much every other violinist I know.

In some ways, he comes from what people would say is a very

traditional Russian heritage of violin playing,

but his musical personality is anything but traditional.

He has an extremely extrovert and varied way of playing,

and his stage presence is entirely unique.

Here he is performing Leonard Bernstein's Serenade in 1986,

at the Barbican in London, with the composer himself conducting.

We have heard some wonderful

and extremely varied performances on this extraordinary instrument.

I do hope you've enjoyed listening to them.

We're going to leave you now with a performance by

the Dutch violinist Janine Jansen.

She is undoubtedly one of the most expressive

and genuine musicians on the circuit today.

She will be performing

the ever-popular Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Good night.