Famous violinists of the 21st century. Arthur Shtilman Famous and great virtuoso violinists of the 20th century
Music accompanies a person throughout life and plays an important role in this very life. It has been scientifically proven that, in addition to aesthetic pleasure, listening to classical compositions promotes the regeneration of brain cells, although it was previously believed that they cannot be restored. In addition, as a result of numerous experiments, it was possible to find out that music affects the structure of water, so it is not at all surprising that it lifts mood and helps to cope with depression. This is especially true for classical music played on the violin. Today let's talk about people through whom we can hear musical masterpieces- about violinists who bring music to the masses with their creativity. Who are they - the best violinists in the world?
10 Yitzhak Perlman
Best Violinist by Number of Awards
This truly brilliant musician, conductor and teacher was born in Israel in the first post-war year into a family of Jewish migrants who had left the Ukrainian city of Ternopil. I fell in love with the sound of the violin after hearing a concert of symphonic music. Educated first in Tel Aviv, then - in the famous Juilliard School (USA). Took lessons from Dorothy Delay and Ivan Galamyan.
Yitzhak Perlman is a talented violinist who has received many awards, in particular, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a high award for his great contribution to the development of American music; he is a 5-time Gremi Music Award winner.
9
The American Hillary Khan entered the list of the best violinists in the world because she can rightfully be considered the most hardworking musician. In her entire life (and a girl was born in 1979), she held more than 8 hundred concerts, the first of which was at the age of 10! Khan was twice awarded the Gremi Prize, she performs in 30 countries of the world, and in each of them the performances of a talented violinist gather an army of thousands of fans. It should be noted that in her entire career, the girl has never changed her violin - from the first performance to this day, she plays an instrument made by special order by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume.
8
Leader in the number of concerts in various parts of the world
The most talented musician was born in the Netherlands in 1978 and made her debut with the Youth Orchestra of Scotland, playing a Brahms concert. Janin is the owner of many high awards in the world of music, in particular, she was awarded a personal award from the Ministry of Culture of the Netherlands, the Edison Prize and the ECHO-Classic Honorary Prize, the BBC Radio Prize as an Artist of the New Generation. The violinist performs compositions of most of the world's brilliant composers, she is distinguished by an easy, emphatically delicate and restrained manner of playing.
7
Best Classical Music Performer in Russia
Our compatriot Victoria Mullova also entered the list of the best violinists in the world. The woman was born in 1959, graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, studied with the famous Leonid Kogan. In 1980, as part of the Soviet delegation, she was sent to Finland to the Sibelius International Violin Competition. Having won it, the girl, along with her lover on the train, crossed the border between Finland and Sweden, spent a day in a hotel, and then asked for asylum in the United States. Only in this way could a novice musician break through the Iron Curtain and declare his talent to the world.
Now Victoria lives in the UK, touring with concerts around the globe. She is known for her original interpretation of compositions by Miles, Bach and Ellington.
6
Record holder for the number of concerts
American violinist, born in 1980 in Philadelphia, where her parents moved from Korea. She studied at the Juilliard School, took lessons from the representative of our rating Itzhak Perlman and other talented teachers. The girl gave her first concert at the age of 9, then the world saw her first album. musical compositions in her performance. The owner of honorary music awards gives at least 150 concerts a year. By means of simple mathematical calculations, it can be determined that every 2 days a girl enters the big stage and pleases the audience with her talent.
5
Musician of tragic fate
The next one on our list is one of the best violinists in the world, whose biography is just right to form the basis of a dramatic film. The famous Austrian musician and composer of the 19th century, he wrote truly masterpieces and was famous for his special, easily recognizable manner of playing. Born in 1875, in 1887 he received his first high award and confidently declared his talent. Throughout his life, Kreisler wrote unique music. Before his death, he had an accident and as a result of his injuries, he lost his hearing and lost the ability to hear what he had devoted all of himself to.
4
A violinist with a mysterious destiny
Not just a talented violinist, but a genius violinist whose music cannot be copied or repeated. History has preserved the testimonies of eyewitnesses present at the concerts of the great Master. They claimed that during the performance, Niccolo saw a demonic shadow behind him and felt an extraordinary lightness. With far from ideal external data (many call the composer ugly), he was insanely popular among the fair sex. After the death of Paganini was accused of heresy, the body of the musician was buried only 65 years after his death.
3
The best contemporary musician
The three leaders of the world's best violinists are opened by a Greek musician, winner of the prestigious Leonie Sonning Music Prize-2017. Born in Athens in 1967, graduated from the Athens and Greek Conservatories, studied at Indiana University (taught by Joseph Gingold). Now Leonidas is working on a solo album and dreams of performing all his creations. best composers throughout the history of mankind.
2
The violin is an amazing instrument. It is difficult to master the art of playing it, but when the initial path is passed, you hear the enchanting sounds of a violin. For the fourth year now, I have been learning the secrets of violin playing. In addition to special subjects, class hours are held in our class, during which we get acquainted with the work of famous violinists of the past and present. We try to prepare information about the life and work of violinists ourselves, using the literature offered by the teacher, as well as literature from the library fund. In 2008-2009 academic year theme class hours- “Violinists - virtuosos of the XX century”.
David Fedorovich Oistrakh is one of the brightest representatives of the outstanding Russian violin school. September 30, 2008 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.
David Fedorovich Oistrakh
David Fedorovich Oistrakh was born on September 30, 1908 in the city of Odessa, where he spent the first 20 years of his life. He was born into the family of a humble employee and a chorus girl at the Opera House. We lived in a small, semi-dark room with a lantern instead of a window. The financial situation was, as they say, below average. But peace and harmony always reigned in the family, everyone was friendly and, as befits true Odessans, cheerful and witty.
Father - Fedor Davidovich - had a noticeable influence on his son as a man of high moral dignity, a strict educator and an excellent family man. A decisive role in the life of the future violinist was played by his mother, Isabella Stepanovna. She often took little Dodik - as everyone affectionately called him - with her to the Opera House. Standing in the orchestra pit next to the old maestro Pribik (chief conductor of the Odessa Opera), he listened to the music as if spellbound. Dodik's mother very early noticed his heightened musical impressionability. But his father gave him the first violin. True, she was not real.
This is how David Fyodorovich himself recalls in his autobiographical notes “My Way”: “I was three and a half years old when my father brought into the house a toy violin,“ playing ”on which I very willingly imagined myself as a street musician - a sad profession widespread in those years in Odessa. It seemed to me that there is no, and there can be no greater happiness than walking around the courtyards with a violin. "
"Playing a street violinist fascinated me so much that when, at the age of five, I finally got my hands on a real violin -" eight "and began to study music, this occupation completely engulfed me." At the same time, little David met his future teacher, Peter Solomonovich Stolyarsky.
The first period of communication with the violin was not cloudless. Dodik did not differ from his peers either by his irrepressible energy or by his love of pranks, he participated in their noisy games and entertainments, and if classes interfered with this, he cut the strings of his violin or hair on a bow. Parents of David Fedorovich, after a series of failures, finally found an effective remedy. If the child did not study, and even more so if he treated his instrument so disrespectfully, the mother did not take him with her to the theater. The desire to be close to the conductor again was so strong that one had to become prudent.
The first and only music teacher was Pyotr Solomonovich Stolyarsky. Pyotr Solomonovich was not yet old when Oistrakh studied with him, but by that time he had earned a good reputation as a teacher of many talented violinists, enjoyed in Odessa not only boundless respect, but also sincere love. Stolyarsky introduced elements of play into the classroom, knew how to interest children, encourage them to study a particular play. He knew not only the musical abilities of each of his students, but also his character, inclinations, hobbies. Pyotr Solomonovich rarely picked up a violin while studying in class. He did not show how to play this or that musical phrase, but, listening to the play of little violinists, he very skillfully corrected their mistakes. It is no coincidence that among the graduates of the Stolyarsky school were such great violinists as David Oistrakh, Nathan Milstein, Samuel Furer, Elizaveta Gilels.
Little David showed by that time an undoubted talent. Later recalling the years of studying with his best student, Stolyarsky wrote: "From childhood he showed exceptionally brilliant abilities and almost with dizzying speed moved along the path of mastering the difficult violin skill." Little Oistrakh was distinguished by a thoughtful, serious attitude to his studies. It is a great art to be able to study, and David Fedorovich has mastered it from a young age.
David Oistrakh began performing in 1914. He made his debut at a student matinee, opening it as the youngest participant (he was then five and a half years old). In 1923, the first performance with the orchestra took place. David Fedorovich was then already a second-year student at the Music and Drama Institute - that was the name of the Odessa Conservatory at that time. The following year, residents of Odessa first saw the name of Oistrakh on posters. They announced a solo concert of the violinist, the program of which included Bach's Concerto a-minor, Tartini-Kreisler's Devil's Trills, Sarasate's Gypsy Chants and several small virtuoso pieces. It was then that a corner appeared in the Oistrakhs' house, in which his posters were hung out.
Oistrakh's touring activities soon began. Together with the student orchestra of the Conservatory, he went in 1925 on his first trip to the cities of Ukraine.
In 1926, David Oistrakh brilliantly completed his studies.
The years 1926-1928 were the time of his surprisingly rapid creative development. Performances became more and more frequent, the geography of touring trips expanded, and the repertoire was rapidly enriched.
Oistrakh's first successes were widely commented on by the Odessa press. Reviewers inform music lovers about the expansion of the creative interests of yesterday's student - a participant in almost all concerts of the season. They admire the lightness and crystal clarity of the violinist's playing.
1928 was a turning point in the life of David Oistrakh. It was marked by moving to Moscow for permanent residence. The further formation of the artistic personality of David Fedorovich was greatly influenced by the climate cultural life the capital with its theaters, museums, exhibitions, concerts.
The end of the 20s - the beginning of the 30s was the period of active concerts of David Oistrakh. He performed in major cities Soviet Union with solo and symphonic programs. On January 23, 1929, his first concert in the capital took place at the Mozart Hall.
D. Oistrakh's first competitive victory was the first prize he won in Kharkov at the First All-Ukrainian Violin Competition (1930). Five years separated the First All-Ukrainian competition from the Second All-Union, held in 1935 in Leningrad, where Oistrakh again became the first. A new victory opened up the broadest prospects for him. His name began to be called along with the brilliant names of Kreisler, Szigeti, Heifets, Milstein. However, the path to the heights of fame ran through two more international competitions - the name of Henryk Wieniawski in Warsaw and the name of Eugene Ysaye in Brussels.
1935, Warsaw. 55 applicants from 16 countries came to the homeland of the Polish violinist and composer Wieniawski to take part in the competition named after him. Among them is the 26-year-old violinist David Oistrakh. The result of his performance is the second place.
Soon after the competition, David Oistrakh's first concerts abroad took place: Moscow - Warsaw - Vienna - Budapest - Sofia - Istanbul. The intensity of his performing activity especially increased after his triumphant victory in 1937 in Brussels at the Eugene Ysaye Competition. Returning to his homeland, Oistrakh plunged headlong into concert and touring activities. They wanted to hear him everywhere.
But all the usual way of life broke down at once, in one day: on June 22, 1941, when the Great Patriotic War... David Fedorovich Oistrakh was among those Moscow musicians who did not leave the capital, among those who flew to besieged Leningrad to perform in front of its heroic defenders. And in the spring of 1945, Oistrakh's violin sounded in the liberated countries - Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Austria and Czechoslovakia.
Post-war decades - a new chapter in creative biography David Oistrakh, the time of the maturity of his art, the time of incessant triumphs in various parts of the world. Speaking in Portugal in 1961, he said that there was not a single country left in Europe in which he did not play.
In September 1968, David Fedorovich Oistrakh celebrated his 60th birthday. His performing activity continued for half a century. On his anniversary, he gave two concerts, in which he performed as a violinist and conductor.
On October 24, 1974, while touring the Netherlands, David Oistrakh suffered a heart attack. He died in the arms of his wife. "Now it will pass" - were his last words.
D. Oistrakh simply said about the purpose of his life in art: “I am trying to fulfill my purpose as an artist and I hope for many more people to discover the rich world of music, which brightens up everyday life. For this I live. " (autobiographical notes "My way")
In conclusion, I would like to cite several assessments of the creative appearance of David Fedorovich, given by his contemporaries:
"The violinist played the Stradivarius violin. It sounded like he was born with it." (Howard Taubman on Oistrakh's performance in America).
“He is an exceptional musician, a complete harmonious violinist in every respect. In his playing, the most striking is the simplicity and extraordinary skill, combined with great freedom in the possession of the instrument. " (Violinist Abram Yampolsky).
"Exceptional nobility and simplicity, impeccable taste and sense of proportion, first-class virtuosity that never becomes the goal of intentions - all these qualities make Oistrakh undoubtedly one of the best violinists of our time." (Pianist Alexander Goldenweiser).
Check out our list of the top ten most sought-after and talented violinists in the world. Of course, this rating is conditional. However, we can say with confidence that these people are Masters, and are deservedly loved and respected by their grateful audience.
Yitzhak Perlman (born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist, conductor and teacher. One of the most famous violinists the second half of the XX century. Five-time Grammy Award Winner. In 2015 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Itzhak became interested in violin at the age of four after hearing a classical music concert on the radio. Barely reaching the age of ten, he began giving concerts on Israeli radio, and in 1958 appeared on the popular American television show Ed Sullivan. His first performance took place on March 5, 1963 at Carnegie Hall.
Hilary Khan (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist, two-time Grammy winner. She began playing the violin at the age of 4, and at ten she gave her first solo concert. Throughout her career, Hillary has given more than 800 concerts, about 500 of which are accompanied by an orchestra. The violinist has performed in more than 200 cities in 27 countries around the world. She has collaborated with 150 conductors.
Hillary plays a violin created in 1864 by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume and uses a French bow made in the 19th century.
The eighth place in the list of the best violinists in the world goes to Janine Jansen (born January 7, 1978), a Dutch violinist and violist. Winner of the Netherlands Ministry of Culture Music Prize, ECHO-Classic Prize, Edison Prize, etc.
Started learning to play the violin at the age of 6. She made her debut in 2001 with Brahms' Violin Concerto with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.
Victoria Mullova (born November 27, 1959) is a Russian violinist. She is best known for performing and recording a number of violin concertos, works by J.S.Bach, as well as for innovative interpretations of popular compositions by Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, The Beatles, and others.
Graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. In 1980 she won the Sibelius International Violin Competition in Finland, and in 1982 - the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow. Victoria currently lives in London with her husband, cellist Matthew Barley, and three children.
Sarah Chang (born December 10, 1980) is a famous American violinist, winner of the Avery Fisher Prize, the Chigi International Academy of Music Prize and others.
She began to study violin at the age of four. In 1991, when Chang was 10 years old, she recorded her first album titled "Debut", after which she quickly gained international fame. Performs up to 150 concerts a year.
Julia Fischer (born June 15, 1983) - German violinist and pianist plays both instruments at a professional level. Winner of the ECHO-Classic Prize, Diapason d'Or, Gramophone Prize and others. In October 2006 she became a professor at the Music Academy Frankfurt am Main (the youngest professor in the history of German higher education).
She began to study violin at the age of four. At the age of 8 she gave her first concert accompanied by a symphony orchestra.
Annually Julia gives from 70 to 80 concerts with 50 programs. Fischer's repertoire includes over 40 pieces accompanied by an orchestra and about 60 pieces of chamber music.
Anne-Sophie Mutter (born June 29, 1963) is a German violinist, one of the most sought-after and highly paid in the world. Recipient of many prestigious awards and prizes, including a Grammy in the category "Best Chamber Music Performance" (2000), Leonie Sonning Prize (2001), Order of Literature and Art (2005). She also became the first woman in history to receive the Ernst Siemens Prize (2008).
At the age of five, Anne-Sophie began to play the piano, but soon changed the instrument and began to learn to play the violin. After winning several competitions for young violinists, when Mutter was 13 years old, Herbert von Karajan invited her to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, with which she made her debut at the 1976 Lucerne Festival. In 1985, at the age of 22, the violinist became a member of the Royal Academy of Music.
Midori Goto (born October 25, 1971) is a Japanese and American violinist. Winner of many awards. Since 2007 he has been the UN Goodwill Ambassador.
For the first time she picked up the violin at the age of two. Her debut public appearance took place at the age of seven, in which she performed one of Paganini's 24 Caprices in her hometown of Osaka. When Midori was eleven, she performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta in Manhattan. In 1992, she founded Midori & Friends, a non-profit organization for music education for children in New York.
Her brother Ryu is also a violinist.
David Oistrakh (September 30 (new style) 1908 - October 24, 1974) - famous Soviet conductor, teacher, violinist and violist, professor at the Moscow State Conservatory. Winner of many awards and prizes. Laureate of the Stalin Prize (1943) and Lenin Prize (1960). National artist USSR (1953).
At the age of five he began to study violin and viola with Pyotr Stolyarsky, his first and only teacher. He made his debut in Odessa at the age of 6. Even as a student, Oistrakh performed on stage with the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra as a soloist and conductor.
Died of a heart attack in Amsterdam.
Fritz Kreisler (February 2, 1875 - January 29, 1962) was an Austrian composer and violinist. Like many great violinists, his performance had a distinctive sound that was immediately recognizable.
Kreisler was educated at the Vienna Conservatory, where his teachers were Anton Bruckner and Joseph Helmesberger (he entered there at the age of seven, although it was necessary to have at least fourteen for admission: an exception was made for Kreisler). In 1887 he received the first prize in the final exam, after which he decided to start an independent creative career... The debut of the musician in the United States took place on November 10, 1888.
Before his death, the violinist got into a car accident, as a result of which he became blind and deaf.
Fastest violin virtuoso, entered in the Guinness Book of Records, David Garrett 
David Garrett is a legendary, world-renowned contemporary American violinist of German descent. David is called one of the most successful artists classical direction music.
David Garrett loves the music of Mozart and Marilyn Manson, masterly performs Metallica songs and classical concerts (from Beethoven to Tchaikovsky) on his violin. David Garrett is considered the rock star of the classics. Long blonde hair, three-day stubble, frayed jeans, a loose jacket, underneath it a T-shirt with a skull and a favorite toy - an ancient Stradivari violin, which is almost 300 years old. Such contrasts are the world of David Garrett. Thanks to his unconventional image and extraordinary skill, the 32-year-old violinist gathers full houses all over the world. 
He doesn't care whether he stands on the street in tattered jeans and a simple T-shirt and pleases people passing by with the sounds of his Stradivarius (worth a million euros), or on the stage of London's Royal Albert Hall - he is a musician without a "pose" and feels comfortable everywhere. Plays classics and rock.
It is worth telling a little about the origin of the "young talent". So, David Garrett - the biography began:
He was born in 1980 in the city of Aachen (Germany) in the family of a German lawyer and an American ballerina. According to his passport, his name is David Bongarts. Only after starting his stage career, he chose his mother's maiden name as a pseudonym.
Garrett is a child of European culture: in numerous interviews, the young violinist tells how much he enjoyed traveling with his parents to philharmonic concerts in Cologne, neighboring Aachen, how he went to opera houses as often as possible only in Germany with its incredible intensity of cultural life.
At the age of four, David received his first violin as a gift.
When the talented boy was ten years old, he was found the best possible teacher - a professor at the Cologne Conservatory, the legendary violin teacher Zakhar Nukhimovich Bron.
At thirteen years old, David had his first contract with the record company Deutsche Grammophon and a career prodigy in his pocket.
He studied music with honored teachers: Zakhar Bron, Isak Stern, Dorothy Delai, Itzak Perlman;
The first CD, more precisely, two CDs, David Garrett recorded at the age of 13, then he began to appear on television in Germany and Holland, performed for the President of the Federal Republic of Germany at the invitation of von Weizsacker, the concert was played at the Villa Hammerschmidt, David played the violin "San Lorenzo" by Stradivari;
Exclusive contract signed with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (14 years old); 
By advice smart people primarily teachers and parents, David, however, gave up his early fame in time and focused on his education. The future violinist was educated at the conservatory (city of Lubeck), later at the Royal College of Music (London), the Juilliard School (New York); by the way, exactly last school considered the most famous school of music in the United States;
At the age of 17, after graduating from the Juilliard School, David began to tour with concerts around the world.
At the age of 19, he played with symphony orchestra Rundfunk in Berlin, directed by Raphael Frübeck de Burgos, and received a very positive response from music critics. After that he was invited to speak at the world famous exhibition - Expo 2000 in Hanover. 
Only after graduating from the Conservatory did the young musician begin to give concerts again with increasing success.
In 2007, the young musician released the album "Virtuoso", which contains his interpretations of classical works, lyrical melodies from films, and the music of his favorite rock band Metallica. The project is risky, but successful!
In 2008, his name was entered in the Guinness Book of Records. He was able to play "Flight of the Bumblebee" (comp. Rimsky-Korsakov) in 66.5 seconds, and two months later broke his own record by playing "Bumblebee" in exactly 65 seconds.
David Garrett is a genius violinist who is admired by the whole world. 
Music critics call David Garrett a "trendy pop violinist", although this is only partly true, since the musician himself really enjoys playing rock.
The most beloved classics are Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, in their works, according to Garrett himself, life and passion are felt.
Several article writers from well-known glamor magazines have described him as "David Beckham's classic scene." 
David plays two violins: Antonio Stradivari 1716 (4.5 million euros) and Giovanni Battista Guadagnini 1772. (acquired in 2003 for $ 1 million).
Garrett is considered one of the most successful stars of classical music in the world, has released 10 albums, 2 million CDs have been sold for the "Encore" album alone. David has several awards including: Gold Camera, Gold and Platinum Plates.
Czardash Monti, Garrett
Today he is 31, he proved everything to everyone long ago and now he just does what he loves, getting tremendous pleasure from it (and this is obvious!).
"I'm not pretending - on stage I'm the same as in life." That is exactly how - mischievous, sunny, charming, he makes a mistake at times both on stage and in interviews.
Lives between Germany and New York, spends two or three months a year in Yabloko, but is not going to give up an apartment there. He constantly tours, his schedule is just a plague, scheduled for a year ahead (seriously, until the end of 2012), from the end of November Scandinavia will begin, every day a new city (tickets - from 50 euros, quite democratic).
How strong are you? “Oh, I really like doing nothing sometimes. But in principle one day is enough for me to have a good rest ”.
David Garrett - Schubert Serenade und Paul McCartney
I like the fact that young people come to the classics and, with their presentation, introduce young people to the wonderful heritage. David plays with the best orchestras in the world. His manner of presenting himself is democratic and youthful. He does not wear a tailcoat or even a suit - jeans, his hair is tied in a ponytail, he can walk around the hall, play, sitting on the steps. This is captivating. In this he is modern and understandable for young people, and attracts their attention.
He is not interested in what anyone thinks about his free behavior on stage or about his rapper outfit. It breaks stereotypes that have developed over many centuries!
The violin is like a yellow bird
Sings on the violinist's chest;
She wants to move, beat
Toss and turn at the shoulder.
The violinist does not hear her screams,
Silent jerks of the bow
He fiddles higher, higher
Throws into the clouds.
And in this sky-high heights
Her natural climate,
Her feelings and thoughts -
Her earthly being.
One of the most outstanding violinists of all times and peoples. He was born in Genoa. His father, noticing that his son has musical abilities, decided to make a musician out of him. At the age of six, he was apprenticed to Giacomo Costa. At the age of eight, Paganini composed the first sonata, and at nine he took part in a concert in Genoa. At the age of thirteen, his father took him on a concert trip to the cities of Northern Italy, where he acquired many admirers. Having reached the age of sixteen, Niccolò left for Pisa, where he was expected to be a great success. During his lifetime, his name was covered with legends. Struck in him and appearance, and manners, and examples of the game. But everything faded before the electrifying effect of the sounds of his violin on the audience. His performance was amazing and bewitched the audience. But a stormy concert activity with a frantic dedication on the stage finally destroyed his body. He loses his voice, is seriously ill. In 1834 his last concerts took place in Turin. He died in Nice. The artist bequeathed his instrument to Genoa. Since 1954 violin competitions are held there, and the winner gets the right to play the Paganini violin. This honor was given to many Russian performers.
Violinists are virtuosos
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Outstanding composer, violinist, conductor and teacher.
He was born in Venice in the family of the violinist of the chapel of the Cathedral of St. Mark - Giovanni Batista Vivaldi. His first mentor in playing the violin was his father, then he became an apprentice to the musician Lehrenzi.
Soon he became famous as a virtuoso, in connection with which he was invited in 1703 to teach at the Pieta Conservatory for Women. Some time later he became the conductor of the orchestra, and from 1713 also its director.
In 1718 - 1722, Vivaldi served at the Mantuan court, and then made a long concert trip to various European countries, everywhere surprising the audience with his virtuoso playing. Last years he spent his life in Vienna, where he died in 1741.
The musician, famous during his lifetime, was quickly forgotten. His music was remembered only in the 20th century, when it received a new and very wide recognition. Characteristic features his music is the brightness of musical themes, lyricism, a variety of violin techniques.
His remarkable works are of immense, worldwide fame.
David Fedorovich Oistrakh (1908-1974)
Russian violinist and teacher. Born in Odessa on September 17, 1908, from the age of five he studied violin with the famous teacher P.S. Stolyarsky and graduated in his class from the Odessa Institute of Music and Drama. From 1928 he lived in Moscow. Oistrakh's violin intonation was distinguished by exceptional purity, and his interpretations were characterized by classical clarity and completeness. The musician's repertoire included, along with the music of classical and romantic composers, quite a few contemporary works, especially by domestic authors: Oistrakh was the first performer of violin concerts dedicated to him by N.Ya. Myaskovsky, A.I. Khachaturian, the First Sonata for violin and piano by S.S. Prokofiev; for many years of friendship they tied him with D.D. Shostakovich (the first performer of the First Violin Concerto and the First Violin Sonata of the composer).
Leonid Borisovich Kogan (1924-1982)
Leonid Kogan was born in Dnepropetrovsk on November 14, 1924. He was not yet thirteen years old when Moscow started talking about him. At sixteen, on March 16, 1941, he brilliantly played the Brahms Violin Concerto. In 1943, Kogan entered the Moscow Conservatory, after graduating from it he remained in graduate school. And then he struck the musicians with the most virtuoso performance of the most difficult works by Paganini, who for many years became Kogan's favorite author. Even the hardships of the war years could not prevent the violinist's stubborn and obsessive work, the brilliant flourishing of his talent.
In 1947, Kogan participated in the Prague international competition and won the first prize there. His regular concert activity begins. The brilliant victory at the Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition in Brussels was a clear indication that Kogan is entering a period of creative maturity.
On December 11-15, the violinist's last concerts took place in Vienna, where he performed Beethoven's Concerto.
The second half of the 19th century turned out to be a time of brilliant flourishing of Russian violin performing culture. Violin performing during this period reaches a high professional level; the remarkable Petersburg and Moscow violin schools appeared. Distinctive feature theirs is an emphasis on serious classical music. With regard to the performing style, one can trace the ability to reveal the idea of a work, the art of "artistic reincarnation", as a result of the establishment of realistic aesthetics in Russian musical culture.
Arcangelo Corelli- Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music. Achieved perfection as a performer and wrote many works. His work has inspired artists such as Antonio Vivaldi and Giuseppe Tartini.
Giuseppe Tartini- violinist and composer of the Baroque era, who was born and worked in Italy. In addition to writing and performing pieces for violin, he was fond of music theory and made a number of improvements in the construction of the violin and bow.
Ivan Evstafievich Khandoshkin- Russian violinist and composer. The pupil of the famous Giuseppe Tartini was hardly inferior in performance to his teacher. He was the first violin teacher at the Russian Academy of Arts.
Giovanni Battista Viotti- Italian violinist and composer, student of Gaetano Pugnani. His works for violin, of which about 30 have come down to us, are characterized by touching and lyrical melody.
Leopold Semyonovich Auer- Russian violinist, conductor, teacher and composer. Born in Hungary, worked and created in Russia, died in Germany, was buried in the USA. Disciple of Joseph Joachim and teacher of Jasha Heifetz. One of the founders of the "Russian violin school".
Virtuosos of our time
Vladimir Spivakov
Vladimir Spivakov- a famous violinist and conductor.
In 1979, V. Spivakov with a group of like-minded musicians created the chamber orchestra "Moscow Virtuosi" and became its chief conductor and soloist. The Moscow Virtuosi Orchestra toured almost all major cities of Russia, Europe, the USA and Japan, took part in the most famous international music festivals.
David Garrett
David Garrett is a legendary, world-renowned contemporary American violinist of German descent. David is called one of the most successful classical music artists.
In 2008, his name was entered in the Guinness Book of Records. He was able to play "Flight of the Bumblebee" (comp. Rimsky-Korsakov) in 66.5 seconds, and two months later broke his own record by playing "Bumblebee" in exactly 65 seconds.
Dmitry Kogan
