Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman dominated the world of violin virtuosos for half a century. Born in 1945 in Tel Aviv, he moved to New York to study at Juilliard when he was 13, and before long his TV appearances made him a household name in America:

A few years later came his Carnegie Hall debut, then the prestigious Leventritt Award, followed by triumphant tours of Israel, North America and Europe between 1965 and 1968. By then Perlman was an international celebrity and recognized “not just as the finest violinist of his generation but as one of the greatest musical talents to emerge since World War II” (leading string authority Tully Potter). He formed a legendary duo with pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy that yielded some of the finest chamber-music discs ever produced, including a reference set of the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas. This is a film of their first studio collaboration, excerpts from the lively 1968 sessions that resulted in a classic recording of César Franck’s Violin Sonata:

Perlman’s solo Bach is also exceptional. In this 1978 film from London he performs the Violin Partita in E major, which he programmed in his first Schubert Club recital in 1970:

This video and those described below can be viewed by clicking on the links “Watch on YouTube”.

In 1980, also in London, Perlman recorded the Beethoven Violin Concerto with conductor Carlo Maria Giulini, a reading long regarded as among the most beautiful of this work ever committed to disc. Twelve years later, in the Schauspielhaus in the former East Berlin, he played a live performance of the Beethoven with conductor Daniel Barenboim, fortunately captured on video, that rivals it in beauty and –  maybe on account of the occasion and the audience – surpasses it in sheer musical excitement. First, the violinist talks about the concerto in a short film:

Here is the complete performance, with Daniel Barenboim conducting the Berlin Philharmonic:

Artist note by Richard Evidon