Old Soul Violinist – Maxim at
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Twenty-seven-year-old Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov starts his second encore of his solo performance by dragging a chair out from backstage at Davies Symphony Hall, in San Francisco.
"I have been performing since I was five years old," he says in lightly accented English. "It is a great privilege to play for audiences like you, and you come to hear me play. Between us there is music. But I never get to communicate in words. So, he sits casually and crosses his legs, "I want to talk to you. Ask me some questions."
So starts an extraordinary conversation between a remarkable old soul violinist and 1,500 of his closest friends. One person asks why he held his bow so high during first number, Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D minor'. Written originally for organ, this complicated piece requires a specially rounded bow to make playing easier, he replies. "And you may have noticed that I did not play that piece on my Baroque violin. It's ill with all changes in humidity and weather."
"Tell us about your violin," another person tosses across nearly sold out auditorium. "My instrument was made in Crimea in 1727 by Antonio Stradivarius. It is an ex-Kreisler instrument, meaning that it once belonged to great violinist, Fritz Kreisler. And I was lucky enough to get it at Christie's auction in 1998." This raises murmurs of appreciation from audience.
"Will you compose in future?" Vengerov chuckles, "I'm not very popular in composing world because I like tonal music, music that has a melody that you can take home with you." The audience cheers in agreement.
"Tell us about your UNICEF work." Vengerov loses his characteristic smile and light-hearted nature. "I have traveled to Uganda, Thailand, and Kosovo and seen what terrible things have happened to children there. Some have lost limbs; some have lost ability to speak. They have no expressions. Then I see what music can do for them. They start to dance, smile and forget their worries. Here, I will play for you what I played for them." And he plays 'Balalaika', a piece completely plucked, to his third standing ovation.
Love of Bach
Maxim Vengerov, then, is an unusual mixture of boyish charm and old-world mastery. He opened his concert with Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor', which has been made famous by organ-playing vampires and monsters everywhere. I was wondering how a single violinist, surrounded by an empty stage and an anticipatory audience, would bring fugue to life with just one bow and four strings. Before long, I had completely forgotten that there was only one person performing, as varying melodies danced and intertwined.
