 |
| Janine Jansen and John Clare |
Kicking things off is Afternoon Host John Clare with 30 Great Violinists! (They are in no particular order, and were chosen keeping in mind the artist was available to be heard on Spotify)
Listen to these violinists on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/VG9KKJ
1 Janine Jansen
(I remember exactly when and where I was listening to Janine's debut cd, and hearing her live is even better. We did an interview in Washington, DC after a concert. This is her answer about playing Bach.http://classicallyhip.com/sounds/janine/ending.mp3)
2 Itzhak Perlman
(It was a dream to interview the violinist who inspired me to play the violin, Itzhak Perlman - listen to our talk here: http://www.tpr.org/classicalspotlight/2011/03/cs1103172.html)
3 Jascha Heifetz
4 Mischa Elman
5 Leonid Kogan
(I was delighted to see the Faure Piano Quartet on Spotify, an all star group from Russia - while there are LOTS of recordings that might have shown Kogan's talent, to me, this is supreme music making on all parts!)
 |
| Josh Bell and John Clare |
7 Gil Shaham
(Gil is as nice a person as he is a great artist - and now he runs his own recording company!)
8 Midori
9 Sarah Chang
10 Maxim Vengerov
11 Isaac Stern
(A modern masterpiece for the violin, and one I adore hearing Stern play - Penderecki's 1976 Violin Concerto. I also treasure Stern's unique sound.)
12 Anne-Sophie Mutter
(Every chance I get, I try to hear Anne-Sophie Mutter live. She was a large inspiration as a teenager and her playing has only deepened. It was a dream come true when I interviewed her: http://classicallyhip.com/sounds/asm/ASM.mp3)
13 Viktoria Mullova
14 David Oistrakh
15 Gidon Kremer
(If Gidon recorded John Cage's 4'33" I would buy it. Pretty much anything he touches is gold.)
16 Nicola Benedetti
17 Yehudi Menuhin
(There is so much to love about Yehudi and his playing, but I couldn't resist also sharing a portion of on of his unknown commissions, Andrzej Panufnik's Violin Concerto!)
 |
| Hilary Hahn and John Clare |
(Since her Sony debut to her latest DG release of improvisations, Hilary plays perfectly. We also had a great run of yearly interviews as she played at the Las Vegas Music Festival!)
19 Lisa Batiashvili
20 Nathan Milstein
21 Oscar Shumsky
22 Toscha Seidel
(They say that if Jascha Heifetz was the angel in Leopold Auer's violin class, that Toscha Seidel was the devil - and with an instrument that is often associated with Ol' Nick, it certainly is a compliment to Seidel! I was delighted some of his artistry can be heard on Spotify!!!)
23 Anne Akiko Meyers
(This stunning virtuoso calls Texas home but plays worldwide, and is a great mom, too! How does she do it all? Listen to our interview about Air: http://kpac883.blogspot.com/2012/02/annes-air.html)
24 Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
 |
| John Clare and Mark O'Connor |
(This amazing fiddler plays it all. Classical, jazz, bluegrass, swing, you name it. Nowadays not only does he share his artistry but has a new spin on technique, one that he teaches in various camps as well as method books!)
26 Rachel Barton Pine
27 Pinchas Zukerman
(Such an outstanding musician, known for his violin and viola playing, plus an international career as a conductor.)
28 Simon Standage
(A period performer, Simon does amazing things with music that you might not have realized you liked, or even heard of, all with a very old violin!)
29 Lara St. John
(I wondered about some of her album cover choices, but Lara proves you can't judge a recording by the cover! We talked Mozart not long ago: http://www.tpr.org/classicalspotlight/2010/10/cs1010145.html)
30 Julia Fischer
(Another musician who I would buy their recording if it were the phone book...she is also an amazing pianist - having recorded Grieg's Piano Concerto on DVD! We talked Paganini and more one day: http://www.tpr.org/classicalspotlight/2010/09/cs1009094.html)
There are lots of great violinists - who are some of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below or on facebook!
