https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coy5jddKKAkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK18EjF9S7IMaxim Vengerov (born August 20, 1974, Novosibirsk) is a Russian violinist.
At age 15, Vengerov won the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition in London, including First Prize, Interpretation Prize and the Audience Prize and two others. He taught his first masterclass at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1993, the Hennessey organisation in France loaned Vengerov a Stradivarius violin, the "Reynier".
Vengerov won a recording contract with Warner/Teldec, which included recordings with Mstislav Rostropovich. These included a 1994 recording of the first violin concerti each of Shostakovich and Prokofiev (with the London Symphony Orchestra), which won the Gramophone award for ‘Best Record of the Year’ and ‘Best Concerto Recordings’, two Grammy nominations and an Edison award. Further recordings included the second violin concerti by Shostakovich and Prokofiev, and the Brahms concerto with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
In 1995 the Stradivari society in Chicago lent Vengerov the "Keisewetter" Stradivarius, which he used this violin until April 1998. He later performed on the "Kreutzer" Stradivarius.
In 1997, Vengerov became an honorary ambassador for UNICEF, for which he set aside time for at least one annual project. He has performed in Uganda and Sudan as part of his charity work.
In 1998, Vengerov begun to study conducting with Vag Papian. At the suggestion of Trevor Pinnock, Vengerov spent two years studying baroque violin. They subsequently collaborated on a series of concerts. Vengerov has also studied the viola, and performed as soloist on his recording of the Walton Viola Concerto, with Rostropovich conducting, as part of his new recording contract with EMI. Other recordings for EMI include the Igor Stravinsky and Rodion Shchedrin violin concerti.
In 2005, Vengerov took a sabbatical from his solo career. During that time, he learned to dance Argentine tango, with Sebastian Misse and Andrea Reyero. This led to a collaboration with the Israeli composer Benjamin Yusupov and the tango dancer Christiane Palha, in a new composition for Vengerov, the Viola Tango Rock Concerto[5], which Vengerov and Palha premiered in The filmmaker Ken Howard documented Vengerov's sabbatical in what became a television program for The South Bank Show, and later an expanded film version of the program, Living the Dream. In spite of the announced sabbatical, Vengerov gave 50 recitals that year.
Vengerov had planned to present the Yusupov work at the 2007 BBC Proms. However, he cancelled that and other engagements, and dealt with a recurring shoulder injury. In 2008, Vengerov announced that he was curtailing his violin career to focus on teaching and conducting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_Vengerov
