Maxim Vengerov - 'Playing by Heart'

Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov (Russian: Максим Александрович Венгеров, born August 20, 1974) is a violinist, violist, and conductor who was born in the Soviet Union.

Vengerov was born on 20 August 1974 in Novosibirsk, Russia, to a Jewish family with musical tradition. At the age of 5, he began studying the violin with Borbala Hwang, and two years later – with Zakhar Bron. 1984 saw the 10-year-old Maxim go abroad for the first time; in Lublin, Poland, he won the first place at the International Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski Young Violin Player Competition (years later, he recalled, "I thought Poland was somewhere at the end of the world. One does not forget such trips; no wonder I always remember Poland very fondly…"). When Bron left Russia in 1987 to teach at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, Vengerov and his mother followed him there, and did so again after Bron moved to Lübeck to open a school there.

1990–1999

In 1990, Vengerov proved his extraordinary talent with victory at the International Carl Flesch Competition in London. At the time, he had already studied with Z. Bron in London and Lübeck. His public appearances – both solo and with orchestras – at major European music venues sparked interest of major record labels (to date, he has recorded close to 100 compositions or cycles) and music magazines. Numerous recording prizes and “Artist of the Year” titles (incl. one from Gramophone) followed, as did the celebrated Grammy Award, Edison Award (for the recording of Shostakovich Second Concerto), and the highly prestigious “Echo Klassik” annual distinction awarded to him by the German Television in 2003 (for recital feat. compositions by J. S. Bach). In 1997, he became UNICEF’s Envoy for Music and has met and performed for children in such places, as Uganda, Thailand or Kosovo. “Playing by Heart”, a Channel 4 production about the virtuoso’s meetings with young musicians during his master classes, which was shown at the Cannes Festival in 1999, enjoyed tremendous popularity throughout the world. Contacts with Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniel Barenboim or Vag Papian, as well as performances with the world’s most famous orchestras, like the Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic or the Chicago Symphony, exerted profound influence upon Maxim Vengerov’s artistic progress and development of his musical skills. The artist took a two-year course in the Baroque violin and repertoire of the epoch. However, he does not restrict himself to the violin alone; the viola, jazz improvisation, dance, and conducting have caught his attention. Since the earliest stages of his career, he has been playing various Stradivari instruments; at present, it is the 1727 “Ex-Kreutzer”.