# Favorite Violinists?



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

We have a number of polls and discussions concerning favorite singers, orchestras, conductors... but just recently with the purchase of a number of discs centered upon the violin I thought I'd ask who are your favorite violinists (living and dead) and why? I throw in some of my own thoughts after others have had a chance to kick this around a bit.

:tiphat:


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I have quite a few favourite "fiddlers," but at the moment I've found *David Oistrakh's playing of Hindemith's Violin Concerto *with the composer at the helm to be so moving. Even a friend who has little to no experience of "atonal" music found this performance and piece to be "very emotional" (her exact words). HERE is yours truly in a post a week or so back talking - or raving - about this masterpiece of c20th violin repertoire (incl. link to it on youtube)...


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Hilary Hahn. Having seen her live she is as amazing a musician in person as she is on recordings. She has an endearing stage presence, gorgeous tone quality, amazing technique, and is an amazing improviser. She is very kind to her fans as well, doing many post concert signings, online video Q+As, and funny tweets from the perspective of her violin case. She's very articulate, speaks fluently in five languages, and keeps her personal life out of the media so as never to distract from her music. Her recordings champion new works as well as bring something different to the standard repertoire, and her catalog covers orchestral, chamber, and solo recordings, demonstrating a huge diversity.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^ @ *Olias* - I've only got* Hilary Hahn's recording of the Schoenberg concerto* & it's enough by far to convince me of her talent. This recording made me hear real emotion & colour in Schoenberg's music for the first time basically. I've had other revelations with Schoenberg but this was the biggest one. When I put on that disc, 9 times out of 10 I just listen to the Schoenberg VC, I'm not much interested in the Sibelius VC which she plays on it as well, I've known it for like 20 years.

It's good that she has championed this work and made it sound so emotional, not just a technical exercise. Another thing is she is playing quite a bit of new or newer music, eg. her recording of the Jennifer Higdon concerto (which I haven't heard yet).

It would be great to hear her live but (a) I'm not sure if she'll ever come out here & (b) If she does the price would probably be astronomical & (c) She would probably play a warhorse to satisfy the conservatives, so I'd probably not be eager to shell out a huge wad of cash to hear Mendelssohn's concerto or something. In other words I'm more interested in the song not the singer (although in the case of performers like Ms. Hahn, I'm highly interested in both).

& another great female violinist, but of the older generation,* Anne Sophie Mutter* is coming out here next year. I'm not that eager to hear her play as I've kind of gone off big heavy Germanic orchestral things, I'm now more for the chamber, solo instrumental or choral. Ms Mutter will be performing the Beethoven concerto.

On record, *I liked her disc of J.S. Bach but I didn't enjoy the Gubaidulina concerto on that disc* (the work, not her playing). I played this recording to a friend of mine and he quite liked the Gubaidulina concerto. I thought it was like bad Schnittke rehash and kind of new age in parts (eg. she uses harpsichord in the orchestra like Schnittke). Anyway, we both enjoyed the J.S. Bach concertos on this disc, a surprise for me as I'm usually the other way, I prefer post-1800 over earlier concertos, & I'm not a huge fan of J.S. Bach. But it shows I'm flexible, I think.

I think in this more recent recording Ms. Mutter has used less heavy vibrato as she did earlier. She is more restrained now and I much prefer that to heavy vibrato. Maestro von Karajan was a big admirer and mentor of her in her earlier years (they made a number of recordings together), but I haven't heard them...


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

Salvatore Accardo & Ida Haendel are my two favorites.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

This should be an interesting thread to read the names mentioned, and I'm sure most if not all the violinists are/were great players.

Several that have remained consistently so, and special to me because of their consistency in spirit and craftmanship (or "craft-woman-ship") along my discovery of Baroque and Classical repertoire in particular, are Simon Standage and Elizabeth Wallfisch. Both are well known in the period instrument performance world. Simon Standage is also professor of Baroque violin at the Royal Academy of Music. Elizabeth Wallfisch is also a professor of Baroque violin, at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. I have numerous CDs featuring them.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

Mine are: Kreisler - Heifetz - Oistrakhs - Milstein - young Menuhin - Ricci - Arkady Korsakoff - Neveu - Ferras - Szeryng -
Francescatti - Bianchi.


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

Mostly got into today's generation of hottie violinist. 
Sarah chang
Julia Fischer
Hillary Hahn
Janine Jansen 
Chloe Hanslip. 

Anne Mutter Sophie, 
Midori, 
Leila Josewicz, 
Viktoria Mullova

and of course:
Maxime Vengerov
Lin Cho Liang
Phillipe Quint

Heifetz
Vadim Repin


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2011)

Jascha Heifetz
David Oistrakh
Menuhin
Andrew Manze


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Chung, D. Oistrakh, Tenenbaum, Wilkomirska, Szigeti, Mullova. The first two for large bodies of work, the others for a few works of great distinction.


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## Xytech (Apr 7, 2011)

Oistrakh is hands down my favourite. Also Kreisler, Igor Oistrakh, Milstein (I love his Bach Chaconne so very much!) & young Menuhin.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

Igor Oistrakh is one unjustly very underrated violinist IMO. He doesen't the terrific artistic personality of his father, but he was an exceptional violinist on his own. His recordings of Mendelssohn, Bruch first, Wieniawsky 2, Rakov first and Khatchaturian are magnificent. And his complete LvB sonatas with wife Natalia Zertsalova is one of my favorites, even more that David's. And then, you have Valery, his son, third generation of violinists.


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## Nix (Feb 20, 2010)

I love Hilary Hahn, but mostly for her Bach and Contemporary work. She's just to mechanical with romantic, which is odd considering how much passion she puts into works like the Stravinsky VC, or the Bach concertos. Also a big fan of the very underrated Vadim Repin (great for Beethoven), and the not so underrated Maxim Venegrov. Perlman is great too. 

The only major violinists I've seen live that I can think of are Hilary Hahn and Anne Sophie Mutter. Hahn was in her element playing the Higdon, and Mutter was not, playing Mozart (too much vibrato!).


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

I see that in general, you are following the modern and current solists, while I'm an old fashioned fan of people of the begginings of past century (or endings of the 19TH.like Kreisler, or even Heifetz if as someone said, he was really borne in 1900). Well, that style that I love so much is past, and when Ricci, the last of those, had died, it'll be history


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

*Ivry Gitlis*, for a sample of his almost gypsy-like style, try the great Debussy Sonata with Argerich (which is probably going to raise a few eyebrows): 



 ;

*Ida Haendel * in Petttersson´s 2nd Violin Cto;

As it is the case with pianists, Russia + the former USSR territory has produced some of the best ever:
the *Oistrakhs (*Regarding Igor, one could add the Elgar Concerto conducted by Zhuk);
*Grigory Feighin *(great Medtner 3rd Sonata, for instance);
*Gidon Kremer*
early *Isaac Stern *(who was actually a Ukrainian);
*Leonid Kogan*, in the Berg concerto; 
*Oleg Kagan*, in the Gubajdulina Concerto;

Some others:
*Bronislaw Gimpel*;
and *Heifetz*, *Francescatti*;
*Daniel Hope * in Mendelssohn;
*Arve Tellefsen*, in the Nielsen/Blomstedt, and Valen concerti;
*K.W. Chung
*
I do have a soft spot for the rather controversial *Mutter* also .


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Off the top of my head,...Julia Fischer, Jaime Laredo, Yehudi, Joseph Silverstein, Gidon Kremer, Heifetz...so many...


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Itzhak Perlman, Anne Sophie-Mutter, Yehudi Menuhin, Jascha Heifetz, etc... I have a recording of the Schumann Violin Sonatas with Carolin Widmann which I very much enjoy.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Another one long gone is *Arthur Grumiaux*. I've got him doing some Bruch, and Grumiaux is good because he's emotional but not too kind of syrupy and schmaltzy, which can easily happen with this composer's music...


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

famous violinist diagram tree : blog here.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I started this thread after having picked up a number of discs recently featuring Hillary Hahn, Anne Sophie Mutter and Andrew Manze. I would include all three among my favorite living violinists.

Anne Sophie Mutter may be my favorite living violinist. Not only is she a spectacular instrumentalist and not half bad looking...










... but she also brings a real intelligence and willingness to explore outside of the standard repertoire. Among the composers not known as part of the usual standard violin repertoire, Mutter has recorded Krzysztof Penderecki, Sebastian Currier, Wolfgang Rihm, Jules Massenet, Gabriel Fauré, Henryk Wieniawski, Sofiya Gubaidulina, Erich Korngold, Cesar Franck, Henryk Wieniawski, Max Bruch, Alban Berg, Henri Dutilleux, Bela Bartok, Igor Stravinsky, George Crumb, Sergey Prokofiev, Ottorino Respighi, Anton Webern, etc... Considering the access to remastered recordings of many of the works of the core repertoire by the great older violinists, her exploration of a wider range of work simply makes common sense. I question whether I really need or want another recording of Tchaikovsky's or Beethoven's concertos.

The younger Hillary Hahn has seemingly picked up on Mutter's exploration of less-well-known works for violin. She plays Bach, Mendelssohn, and Sibelius beautifully... but I am intrigued with the works she couples with many of recordings of Mendellsohn, Tchaikovsky, etc: Jennifer Higdon, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Edgar Meyer, Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, etc... None of these are performed as mere filler, but rather with as much fluidity, elegance, virtuosity, and passion as afforded Beethoven and Tchaikovsk.

Andrew Manze is probably my favorite violinist specializing in Baroque music. Corelli, Tartini, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, C.P.E. Bach, J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, Jean-Fery Rebel, Antonio Vivaldi, Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi, Telemann, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Tomaso Albinoni, Marco Uccellini, and Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli are but a few of the composers whose works have benefited by the efforts of Mr. Manze.

Last, among the living violinists, I cannot ignore Itzahk Perlman. Compared to the other three mentioned, Perlman is far more conservative... at least in terms of his choice of repertoire. Nevertheless, I cannot imagine being without his Mendelssohn, Paganini, his Beethoven Triple Concerto, and Beethoven's violin sonatas with Ashkenazy, his Brahms Violin Concert and sonatas, etc...

Of the older violinists, I would also go with the usual suspects:

Jascha Heifetz
Nathan Milstein
Henryk Szeryng
Arthur Grumiaux
Yehudi Menuhin
David Oistrakh

I really must look into the efforts of Joshua Bell, Rachel Podger, Gidon Kremer, Julia Fischer, etc...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^ *Re Itzhak Perlman*, a musician friend told me he recorded a good one of the Berg (definitely the VC, I'm not sure if he did the Chamber Conc. as well) & I own a reissue on EMI of him playing Barber's VC, Bernstein's _Serenade on Plato's Symposium_ as well as Lukas Foss _Three American Pieces_ which are a delightful bonus track to have, much like Copland in "Americana" mode. Info is HERE at amazon.com...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

joen_cph said:


> ...
> early *Isaac Stern *(who was actually a Ukrainian);
> ...


Totally forgot *Isaac Stern* for some reason. I've had THIS recording of him playing* the two Berg concertos*, decades apart. I really like his playing, it is low on vibrato and a kind of leaner modern sound. He took risks but he had the technical prowess to make them really deliver for the listener, not come across as just being different for the sake of it. THIS recording, owned by a friend, is very good. Here he is joined by Pinchas Zuckerman and Itzhak Perlman in three classic concertos -* J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart *- in a live recording under the baton of Zubin Mehta. I really liked this one because they played each concerto differently according to the individual style of each composer, it wasn't just carbon copy, it really had sensitivity in that way. Another one I recently got was THIS disc with Mr. Stern playing various arrangements of *encores and light classics*. It is relaxing and easy listening, showing that he could let his hair down when he wanted to...


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Anne Sophie Mutter may be my favorite living violinist. Not only is she a spectacular instrumentalist and not half bad looking...


That is just one sensational photo of Ms ASM. Nice!


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

interesting that Joshua Bell and Nigel Kennedy have not yet been mentioned by anyone... (including myself)


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^ I agree they are both excellent violinists as well. But they're crowd pleasers & have done these crossover kinds of things that certain purists are not really happy about or interested in. I'm not saying that's necessarily the opinion of any people/person on this forum, it's just a general opinion, perception or judgement that "highbrows" or whoever out there have (eg. that they're "selling out" doing covers of rock & jazz standards, and in Mr. Kennedy's case, more recently playing his own cadenza to the Beethoven concerto that was inspired by Jimi Hendrix)...


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

Sid James said:


> ^^ I agree they are both excellent violinists as well. But they're crowd pleasers & have done these crossover kinds of things that certain purists are not really happy about or interested in. I'm not saying that's necessarily the opinion of any people/person on this forum, it's just a general opinion, perception or judgement that "highbrows" or whoever out there have (eg. that they're "selling out" doing covers of rock & jazz standards, and in Mr. Kennedy's case, more recently playing his own cadenza to the Beethoven concerto that was inspired by Jimi Hendrix)...


Yes, neither of them is my favorite, either- I was just surprised that either of them hadn't yet been mentioned as someone else's favorite, until now...


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I agree they are both excellent violinists as well. But they're crowd pleasers & have done these crossover kinds of things that certain purists are not really happy about or interested in. I'm not saying that's necessarily the opinion of any people/person on this forum, it's just a general opinion, perception or judgement that "highbrows" or whoever out there have (eg. that they're "selling out" doing covers of rock & jazz standards, and in Mr. Kennedy's case, more recently playing his own cadenza to the Beethoven concerto that was inspired by Jimi Hendrix)...

I don't know if its just the fact that they are such crowd-pleasers and do the popular cross-over works. Anna Netrebko and Renee Fleming have both done cross-over work and are both surely crowd-pleasers... but both would quite likely rate quite high on a list of favorite living singers. Personally, I could care less how many crappy works they made... it's the good works that I look at... and so far Mutter and Hahn and Manze and Perlman (and Podger and Jaap ter Linden) have all made recordings that have caught my attention... and that even strike me as "essential" than Kennedy of Bell.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^ Well Kennedy and Bell may well be kind of more "commercial" or whatever with their albums including light music, but I have heard their playing, & it is good. I've even got Mr. Kennedy playing the Beethoven, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky concertos & think he's pretty solid & I was surprised how his playing is not too flamboyant as he kind of comes across in interviews, etc. His early recording of the Walton concertos for violin and viola, under the baton of Maestro Previn, is still one of the best. As for Mr. Bell, I heard him in a broadcast here with one of our orchestras playing the Brahms concerto, and I thought he was very good.

In any case, if these guys are not "legit" or "kosher" according to some people, then *Vanessa Mae *must be way beyond the pale...a candidate for being hung, drawn and quartered...even though in her early pre-commercialised years she did record some of the standard rep concertos (but I've never heard those recordings, so I can't judge)...


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> I don't know if its just the fact that they are such crowd-pleasers and do the popular cross-over works. Anna Netrebko and Renee Fleming have both done cross-over work and are both surely crowd-pleasers... but both would quite likely rate quite high on a list of favorite living singers. Personally, I could care less how many crappy works they made... it's the good works that I look at... and so far Mutter and Hahn and Manze and Perlman (and Podger and Jaap ter Linden) have all made recordings that have caught my attention... and that even strike me as "essential" than Kennedy of Bell.


Agree. Kennedy or Bell don't ring a bell that much in my collection.

I just bought several CDs of Rachel Podger playing Bach and Mozart. She was very good! And a warm personality, so it seems on some of her youtube clips.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

She has also had the advantage of having performed in works for two violins on several instances with Andrew Manze. I've toyed with purchasing her performance of Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin... but damn!... she'd be up against stiff competition with Szeryng, Milstein, and Arthur Grumiaux... and I've heard some good things about the recent Gidon Kremer recording that suggest it is unique enough to warrant investigation.


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## Agatha (Nov 3, 2009)

Many of you mentioned Sarah Chang. I attended her concert in April this year, she visited Vancouver (BC). She played violin concerto by Brahms. I not really liked her interpretation, she was applying so much pressure to the bow as if she was angry with something ... IMHO
In May I attended a concert where Augustin Hadelich played Sibelius violin concerto, that was just incredible - such tenderness and strength where needed, incredible - highly recommend!


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

My favourite is Kyung-Wha Chung - I also like Itzhak Perlman and Jacha Heifetz


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)

check out

http://www.youtube.com/user/gbritaney

and

http://www.youtube.com/user/ViolinTay


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

It's a really crowded field, isn't it?

I have fairly complete collections of *Hilary Hahn *and *Julia Fischer*.

I have just started collecting legendary performances by *Maud Adams *and *Ginette Neveu *(remarkable talent and story there).

This week I discovered *Viktoria Mullova*.

Another recent find is *James Ehnes *- very talented.

And, I agree with Sid about *Arthur Grumiaux*, too.

And, what about *Alina Ibragimova*?

It's overwhelming. So many violinists, so little time.....


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

Love her Butterfly Lover concerto and her recorded Vanhal's VC on Naxos.

Nishizaki Takako


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## jdavid (Oct 4, 2011)

(Restrictions from EMI require that you watch the video on Youtube, sorry for the inconvenience, but I urge you to click the youtube link and listen to a world class artist!)

Nathan Milstein (1909-1992) was a formidable Russian-American artist. His complete recording of the Bach Partitas, and Sonatas is, in my opinion, the finest that can be had. His mastery of Bach's rhythm, polyphony and profound emotional content for solo violin is miraculous.


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## Llyranor (Dec 20, 2010)

My absolute favorite is Henryk Szeryng. 

Others I really like too are Arthur Grumiaux, Ida Haendel, David Oistrakh.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Jennifer Koh and Olga Kivaeva, though I've not heard a note from Olga.


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## Llyranor (Dec 20, 2010)

Hmm, I think I may have just fallen in love with Ivry Gitlis. Haven't really heard of him before. I was just glancing through various versions of St-Saens' 2nd Violin Concerto and listening to samples. I have a performance by Fanny Clamagirand which I quite like (not available on youtube).

There's this version by Philippe Graffin on youtube. My favorite part of the concerto is from 6:10 to around 7:30, especially at 6:50. Here, I prefer Clamagirand's version a bit more (no comparison available, unfortunately).
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxwx551edzQ#t=6m10[/yt]

However, I stumbled upon Ivry Gitlis' interpretation. From 5:10 to 6:20 here:[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ1x-K7SX2U#t=5m10[/yt]

And WOW! It is absolutely amazing. There's so much tension (with a hint of dissonance?) from 5:30 until the explosion at 5:50 that you don't even hear in the other versions. How does he do it? I just ordered 2 of his CD's on amazon


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

been listen to Sibelius VC for year but still it hypnotized me every time...especially by somebody alike Suwanai


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

jurianbai said:


> been listen to Sibelius VC for year but still it hypnotized me every time...especially by somebody alike Suwanai


Thank you for posting. She's talented and beautiful. I adore her Dvorak and Sarasate recording. I'll have to pursue other recs.


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## RandallPeterListens (Feb 9, 2012)

A little late to the party here, but I see only one mention of Ruggiero Ricci. Technically brilliant, but very, very sensitive phrasing. The single best album?/CD? of recorded violin music, in my opinion, is his recording of Eugene Ysaye's Six Sonatas for Solo Violin. I believe he recorded this set twice, but the one I treasure is the one which used to be available on the budget Vox/Candide label. It is one of those rare performances which you simply can't ignore or just have in the background. You are drawn in and sit on the edge of your seat until the music ends. Anyone who thinks Ysaye was just a parlor show-off fireworks composer should listen to this recording.


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## stevens (Jun 23, 2014)

There are LOTS of really nice violinists today
I have recently noticed Kim Bomsori


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Depends on the repertoire.

For unaccompanied Bach: Nathan Milstein

For the Sibelius Violin Concerto: Jascha Heifetz

For the Elgar Violin Concerto: Yehudi Menuhin

For the Bartok Violin Concerto #2: Anne-Sophie Mutter

For the Berg Violin Concerto: Arthur Grumiaux


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Anne Sophie Mutter may be my favorite living violinist. Not only is she a spectacular instrumentalist and _not half bad looking..._


"...not _half_ bad looking"? Well then, which_ not quite _half of her do you consider to _be_ "bad looking"?

Of course, my favorite violinist is the one who leaves his priceless Strad or Guarneri in the back seat of _my_ cab.


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## yelu (Aug 24, 2014)

-_- i agree w ur opinion on Sarah Chang...She's the Yuja Wang version in violin.....


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## yelu (Aug 24, 2014)

jurianbai said:


> Mostly got into today's generation of hottie violinist.
> Sarah chang
> Julia Fischer
> Hillary Hahn
> ...


i got to know Chloe Elise Hansip from Maxim Vengrov's Master Class. She was a child prodigy back then but still retain her talent nowadays which is very rare among talented young violin virtuoso!


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## ozofriendly (Sep 6, 2018)

i'm quite fond of takako nashizaki, who seems to be somewhat overlooked. and otherwise hilary hahn really is a bit special, isn't she


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## Eusebius12 (Mar 22, 2010)

Sid James said:


> Another one long gone is *Arthur Grumiaux*. I've got him doing some Bruch, and Grumiaux is good because he's emotional but not too kind of syrupy and schmaltzy, which can easily happen with this composer's music...


I was going to mention him before I noticed you did. I think Grumiaux's Bach is underrated.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Not in any order:

David Oistrakh
Henryk Szeryng
Arthur Grumiaux
Janine Jansen
Hillary Hahn


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Let's see: Nathan Milstein, Henryk Szeryng, Midori, Kyung Wha Chung, James Ehnes, Zino Francescatti, Isaac Stern and Rachel Barton Pine.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Oistrakh. Kremer. Faust. (Kyung Wha) Chung. Stern. Milstein. Grumiaux. Kopatchinskaja. 

There are probably a few others but these are among my favourites ... which is not to say that there are not also very many who are excellent.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Bronislaw Huberman
Fritz Kreisler
Adolf Busch
Joseph Szigeti
Ginette Neveu
Jascha Heifetz


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## Eusebius12 (Mar 22, 2010)

The article is misnamed, if there is no room for Joachim, Paganini, Vivaldi, Veracini, Wilhelmj, Ysaye, Corelli, Biber et. al. I thought Bronislaw Huberman might be mentioned somewhere also, he at least is recorded. Franz von Vecsey is a fascinating but relatively unknown figure-an amazing tehnician


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## Eusebius12 (Mar 22, 2010)

Eusebius12 said:


> I thought Bronislaw Huberman might be mentioned somewhere also,


Oh I see he is mentioned above by Brahmsianhorn 

He had a real purity of style and tone


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I do think Joshua Bell is most excellent!


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I do think Joshua Bell is most excellent!


Don't get me started lol. Love him to bits. Performs with passion, feeling and intensity


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## Joe B (Aug 10, 2017)

Leonidas Kavakos


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2018)

Yesterday's list was different than today's and today's will be different than tomorrow's... 

Jascha Heifetz

Yehudi Menuhin

Janine Jansen

Reinhard Goebel (Musica Antiqua Köln)

Arthur Grumiaux


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## Rach Man (Aug 2, 2016)

Just recently I have been enjoying some violin concertos. I must say that two months ago I found the solo violin or violin concertos to be grating on my ears. But I have listened to several violin concertos by Rachel Barton Pine and I quite like what I heard.

So I am asking the knowledgeable people of talkclassical for opinions on _Kyung Wha Chung - The Complete Decca Recordings_. I like the fact that there are many concertos in one purchase. I have also seen that some of the talkclassical group rate her highly. Any thoughts on this box set would be appreciated.

Thanks.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Rach Man said:


> So I am asking the knowledgeable people of talkclassical for opinions on _Kyung Wha Chung - The Complete Decca Recordings_. I like the fact that there are many concertos in one purchase. I have also seen that some of the talkclassical group rate her highly. Any thoughts on this box set would be appreciated.


She is an excellent violinist, and this set is a steal. I'm not sure that any of the performances here would be my absolute first choice for any given piece, but everything is performed and recorded at a very high level. The set covers virtually all of the major concertos, with the curious exception of the Brahms, which she recorded for EMI with Rattle. That recording is included in her complete Warner recordings set.


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## Cortot (Feb 8, 2014)

Ysaye, Kreisler, Enescu, Huberman, Adolf Busch, Vecsey, Szigeti, Thibaud, Menuhin (youth period), Quiroga, Elman, Joachim.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Arthur Grumiaux has been my favourite ever since the 60s when I heard his wonderful recording of the Beethoven concerto with Galliera conducting. The way he maintained such purity of tone, while playing the music with all the expression it needs, struck me even in those early days of my classical journey.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I do agree that Grumiaux was special (I tend to collect everything he did) but it is hard to say it when we have had so many exceptional violinists.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Animal the Drummer said:


> Arthur Grumiaux has been my favourite ever since the 60s when I heard his wonderful recording of the Beethoven concerto with Galliera conducting. The way he maintained such purity of tone, while playing the music with all the expression it needs, struck me even in those early days of my classical journey.


Several players I know adore Grumiaux. His Bach is great.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Heifetz, Oistrakh, Milstein.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Oistrakh by head and shoulders. 
Mullova. 
Hahn's very good.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

mikeh375 said:


> Several players I know adore Grumiaux. His Bach is great.


Yes indeed. I have that too of course. 

BTW he was also a better pianist than I'll ever be (so was Szeryng, so is Julia Fischer - it's enough to make The Incredible Hulk himself even greener with envy). There's a recording on Decca Eloquence of Grumiaux playing both parts of not only a Mozart sonata but also the Brahms A major. He often performed the Beethoven violin sonatas with Clara Haskil and they would occasionally swap instruments for a movement here or there.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

My favorite living “up and coming” violinist is definitely James Ehnes. His Bach is amazingly brilliant! He resists the temptation to rush like so many modern performers but he digs into the music with great enthusiasm. Highly recommended!


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Agreed. I was very impressed by his Elgar concerto as well.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Animal the Drummer said:


> Yes indeed. I have that too of course.
> 
> BTW he was also a better pianist than I'll ever be (so was Szeryng, so is Julia Fischer - it's enough to make The Incredible Hulk himself even greener with envy). There's a recording on Decca Eloquence of Grumiaux playing both parts of not only a Mozart sonata but also the Brahms A major. He often performed the Beethoven violin sonatas with Clara Haskil and they would occasionally swap instruments for a movement here or there.


I remember walking through the practice room corridor at my Alma Mater and hearing the most delicately florid Mozart coming from a room. I looked in and saw it was Evelyn Glennie playing. It put me right off my Rachmaninov practice..


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