I had the pleasure to listen to Lilja here in my home town Lahti, Finland in our Independence Day concert 6th December. I (and the whole audience) was gobsmacked by her exceptional talent, musicality and how she managed to put her soul into the pieces she was playing. And she was only twelve years at the time! She is indeed a very rare talent. By the way, Haatainen is pronounced as you did in the video, a long a sound at the beginning, but the letters ai in the middle are pronounced as the pronoun I. So it would sound like as follows: [ha:tainen]
Thank you so much for mentioning Goldstein here and all of them! I discovered Goldstein's Wieniawski's 1st concerto and became a fan after listening. It's really meaningful for all of us to discover unknown violinists not only because they deserves it, but also giving us a better sight in the music world. There are people such as Fumiaki Miura and Daniel Lozakovich who I'll choose over some famous violinists being hidden and it's such a pity...It's really difficult for next generation to have a name in the classical music world because most people often over watch these famous violinists.
Very inspiring! I had heard of Lilja somewhere along this journey of listening to great violinist but so glad you brought her and the others to the attention of your audience! They are very deserving indeed!
First of all, I think that was Chloe’s first or maybe second time leading an ensemble. She would not have had many opportunities in Singapore, and yet her interaction with the orchestra was as if she’d been playing with them for years. Notice there’s no conductor, so she’s leading the orchestra there, having to play her solo but also gesturing and signaling to the concert master and the rest of the ensemble to keep them all together. Secondly, I think in this same year she played an extremely unusual avant garde work that required the most delicate bow work. And lastly, Chloe just has a captivating stage presence that makes you want to hear more. She’s so focused. You really feel the music through her. And maybe twoset made her really famous, but she was winning all those contests and playing overseas before all that. And if you look at her work with Twoset, you see how expert she really is, correcting their fingering and offering suggestions on technique. I think with other virtuosos and prodigies, you feel “wow, isn’t she great,” but with Chloe, you feel “wow, the violin is really cool.” She doesn’t go out of her way to make what she’s doing look difficult or challenging, even though we all know it is. She just plays, and that’s what we appreciate about her.
@@PM_ME_MESSIAEN_PICS >>"she didn't learn unusual avant garde works lol." On the contrary, Chloe has done just that,. "unusual avant garde work" being a fair description of the work "Self in Mind" that she performed superbly in the final of the 2018 junior Menuhin competition (when she was 11). The work was commissioned by the Menuhin competition from the Korean composer Jaehyuk Choi specifically for that occasion.
>>"Secondly, I think in this same year she played an extremely unusual avant garde work" It was the same music year (2017-18) but a different calendar year. Chloe gave this performance of Mozart #4 in September 2017 (in the Zhuhai Mozart competition, when she was 10) and gave the performance you are referring to - of Jaehyuck Choi's "Self in Mind" - in April 2018 (in the Menuhin Competition junior final, three months after she had turned 11).
Tobiah have you heard Alexander Labko??? I recently was introduced to him in a Livestream between Julia Bushkova and Daniel Kurganov ( other violin gem channels that I’m 99% you’re aware of 😂). There’s a bunch of gems Daniel has been recently unearthing from depths of RUclips or uploading recordings of.
Baited by the thumbnail. I'm a Chloe fan so I admit I was a bit guarded. Glad I finished the vid. Lilja was just..... Wow, can't even find the words to describe. Thanks for including the channel links for those you recommended, and good job trying something different!
I think one possible reason they don't get the fame and success they "deserve" is simply that they don't want it. It requires effort and a certain kind of motive to put yourself out there, and some people are just content doing whatever they are already doing.
Kerson Leon has a brilliant technique and unbelievable vibe. I just checked his Locatelli cadenza and he almost nailed it. I consider his Ysaye among the best.
I love that his sound is very unique, distinctive and outstanding, great technique, although his excessive vibrato and some minor musical choices get very annoying sometimes
So glad you have highlighted Antal Zalai. I’ve been a big fan of his for quite some time. Another great violinist that deserves more recognition is Kirill Troussov. Watch his performance of Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. Also glad you mentioned Boris Goldstein. Other underrated artists are David Nadien, Oscar Shumsky, Steven Staryk, Aaron Rosand, and Benno Rabinoff. Among today’s young up and comers who deserve more attention, take a look at Hana Chang. 🙏🏻🎻
I actually considered putting him in the video, but since Daniel Kurganov has done a good job of making him more well known and since I already had a dead guy on the list I decided to leave him off. But he is wonderful.
@MusicAcademy Philippe Hirschhorm is not the most famous indeed, but he is very known especially here in Belgium because of the Queen Elizabeth Competition. He is also one of the teacher of Janine Jansen, together with Boris Belkin. (Belkin had a lot of very good students in Italy and Maastricht. ) In Belgium there are some very talented children as well, Check Victorine Meurice, she is on the good path and also working recently with Belkin
thanks for this incredible video. I am so happy that you introduced me to that young Finnish violinist. She is something else to be certain. Also I want to thank you for the lesson that I had with you a while back. I was unable to go forward with more for a couple of reasons, one was arthritis. Nonetheless your teaching approach is fantastic and I still with hope of less pain in my left thumb to return to playing again. Take care and more of this content would be great.
We definitely need a part 2 of this! I highly suggest an oldschool czech violinist Váša Příhoda, his playing is divine and he certainly doesn't get the recognition he should have
So glad Kristine Balanas made the top spot of your list! I found her performances accidentally because I knew her sister Margarita, who's a cellist. And I agree that it's probably the fact her style is less flashy that makes her less well-known. Thanks for this list and also wonderful to see Lilja on here, whose performance I saw in the Louis Spohr final in '22 and who's absolutely one of those magical young musicians of today :)
i've heard of 3 of the 5, and i've been a big Zalai fan for years. he's been very generous with his video postings. 50 years ago, you could only hear a relatively small number of great fiddlers from buying LP's, or on the radio, or going to concerts in person. thanks to the internet, we find out there's not just a few great ones, there's literally thousands, all over the world. it's amazing the volume of talent "out there". i suspect it was always thus; we just had no way to be aware of them.
Interesting and nicely done. It goes to show there might be some outstanding violinists who are hardly known at all. Zalai is very musical and seems a thinking musician with immense talent. His Wieniawski Polonaise in A Major is beautiful and imaginative - not at all mechanical like some lesser versions. Some of his Paganini Caprices are amongst my favourites. Mr Dyo seems really involved and very good, but here his vibrato seems a bit excessive at times. Balanas isn't flashy at all , but the music comes through beautifully. In my opinion Narita is another violinist who deserves to be on this list. His Paganini Concerto no 1 is quite dramatic, but there are moments of reflection as well. He has a big, expressive tone and the phrasing is quite individual. As far as I can make out, he isn't famous yet.
Tobiah: Thanks for the video. I also discovered Antal Zalai during the COVID lockdown, when he was producing a number mini videos during this time. On Isaac Stern: My violin teacher was talking about him and his "East Coast associates" (he had another term for it) in one of our lessons, at the time when Stern was still alive. I won't mention names for those who are still around, but you probably know who I am referring to. He mentioned a run-in between one of Stern's protégés and a then up-and-coming Korean violinist under Josef Gingold. The two went head to head in a competition. The Korean violinist was initially awarded first prize and the protégé came second. Stern got fed up and demanded to repeat the final round for them both, and the jury still stood with their decision - after two more repeats. Eventually a compromise was reached, in which they were both declared winners. There was also another story about a cellist (then a student of Mstislav Rostropovich), with whom Stern was looking to replace the recently deceased Jacqueline du Pré, Stern recommended that he be mentored by Leonard Rose, a friend of theirs. This cellist unknowingly offended Stern by studying with Gregor Piatigorsky instead, one of the (West Coast) associates of Jascha Heifetz. The place of du Pré was eventually taken by another one of Rose's students, a Chinese American, with Stern's blessing. As far as I know, both musicians in question are still able to flourish, but their successes are most mostly from outside the US. Okay, enough violinist gossip for now! P.S. - The Isaac Stern recording of the Brahms with Eugene Normandy was the second rendition of the concerto I have ever heard (the first being Yehudi and Kurt Masur on A&E, when it was still more Arts than Entertainment) . My sentiment of it was exactly the same as Aaron Rosand's description of his playing in general, from the article you cited.
Thank you for introducing Antal Zalai! Somehow he looked familiar, and when I looked him up, I found out why. He’s actually currently a professor at the Royal Brussels Conservatory in my country, Belgium. He had participated in the Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in 2005 and came in as a finalist, whilst being a student of the same school he’s a professor at. That competition is of similar renown as the Indianapolis Competition. Thanks again!
Excellent video! I've (surprisingly) seen Lilja at some point on the interwebs! Believe she's around 12 or 13 yrs old now... Also my jaw dropped at Antal Zalai with only one string! And thank you for recognizing Boris Goldstein.
Merci de faire découvrir ces immenses talents, et d'accorder votre attention autant sur la précision technique de Balanas que sur la sensibilité fine de Haatainen. Pour qui a des oreilles honnêtes insensibles au bruit médiatique, il est clair que les vidéos de Chloe et Lilja ne soufrent pas la comparaison, sur les 2 aspects, technique et musicalité.
About the comparison between Kristine Balanas and Chloe Chua on playing that section by Locatelli, it is not quite fair as both are not even within the same age group not to mention that this will mean the experience level in playing a particular piece. In addition, Kristine was playing at a slower tempo compared to Chloe. Hence, clarity will be different.
ive just double checked with wikipedia, here's short rules for finnish vowels: ,,,, like spanish/japanese/swahili/slavic, pretty standard stuff. is like german ü, is like german ö, and is like in english "pat/tack/cap", so if you can do the german umlauts, then finnish isn't so hard.
Very nice video. To me, one of the most underrated violinists out there is the albanian Tedi Papavrami. His Bartok solo sonata is just insane, and now he's recording Scarlatti's Keyboard Sonatas transcribed for solo violin by himself and some of them are wicked (check the k322 for example).
Hello Mr. Murthy! I have recently found the older recordings of the absolutely wonderful violonist Ilian Garnet at the Queen Elizabeth Competition where he performed the Shostakovich Violin Concerto nr.1 in a masterful manner and the most beautiful Mozart 3 performance I have heard in a long time and not only those, he has a lot more recordings that are deserving of much more recognition!
Im am 74 studied with some of the best. Today I live in Asia . Chinese parents have no problem practicing 12 hrs a day with no break. The results are however mindblowing! The talent is so crazy soo young
The first two, I hadn't heard of, but I know of the rest. These days, it is not unusual for great violinists to go unrecognised, because the market for outstanding violinists is saturated. At any given time, there are thousands of excellent violinists in the process of honing their craft, whilst receiving the kind of nurturing that will ultimately culminate in the creation of another outstanding violinist. There's a production line of them, thanks to enormous growth in the industry, greater knowledge and ever widening opportunities for people to pursue this career path. It's not like back in the day when Heifetz astonished the musical world with his unrivalled level of playing. Much more is known about how to reach, modern, high levels of violin playing. Making it in the arts is not just about having ability. Promotion, exposure, having connections, what you look like etc. All of these things matter, something the great teacher, Dorothy Delay, understood, which is part of the reason why so many of her students went on to have big careers. There are too many names to mention, but Ann Fontanella is another one that disappeared into obscurity. I mention her because it seems as though she intentionally abandoned pursuit of a career at the beginning of it, despite all indicators suggesting she would have had a big one. I'm speculating, but I think her interest in a career may have been diminished by the untimely death (from cancer) of her teacher and mentor, Erick Friedman.
Boris Goldstein was actually very well known and admired in my childhood in musical Leningrad. Unfortunately, I never heard the others (or the Murphy Music Academy).
Kristine Balanas looks like she is fingering the Locatelli differently than the other two violinists. The melody note is high up on the G string, putting the melody on the beat at the down bow thus giving it more intensity and attention. I haven’t studied this piece myself, but It appears that the violinist can choose how to play the chords (similar to the Bach Chaconne?) Krisitine certainly chose a pattern that is very well thought out, as you’ve pointed out
>>"Kristine Balanas looks like she is fingering the Locatelli differently than the other two violinists." She isn't just fingering the passage - namely, measures 44 to 53 of the caprice - differently. She simply isn't performing the score. The passage is extremely difficult consequent to the starting point of the melody being raised dramatically. In measure 38, where the clip of Kristine starts, the starting point is c#5, but at measure 44 the starting point is raised to f#6, an aggravating factor being a similarly marked stretching of the arpeggio ground. Kristine simply doesn't even attempt to negotiate the resulting difficulty. Instead, in measures 44 to 53 she performs the melody an octave lower than written. That is, at measure 44 she starts the melody not at f#6 but at f#5. So doing allows the melody to be performed on the g-string. Her choice has got nothingto do with any licence regarding chords. There is no f# in the arpeggio ground of the passage. Rather, she is simply copping out. The answer to Tobiah's question as to how she achieves such clarity is provided by the adage: "The best way to solve the problems posed by a difficult passage is to perform an easier one."
*sigh Really didn’t want to as I’m kind of tired of the arguing about this, but since it’s come to this here it goes: Firstly, yes, I was well aware that Balanas did something different there. Secondly, what she did is actually much more difficult than what is written. I took a gander at the music. The section in question is tricky, but I don’t see why so many violinists seem to just plow through it. If played slightly slower and with more care it can be just as clean and clear as the rest of it. However it is MUCH more difficult, at least at first try, to make a clear sound/intonation when playing it on the G-String. I tried. If I had a choice in performance I’d definitely go with what Locatelli wrote instead of what Balanas does. That being said, it is possible that that is easier for her to do. Sometimes there are weird things more difficult for everyone else that one person just find easier for some reason. Doesn’t change the fact that what she did was monstrously difficult, not easier, and she played it with incredible tone and clarity. Now, I’m done with this. I’ve said my piece. Jack is a good guy that has intelligently expressed his opinions. But I’m not arguing about it anymore.
@@MurphyMusicAcademy O come on! It isn't plausible at all that Kristine has chosen to diverge from the score to any purpose other than to avoid the difficulties of the passage. Obviously, there is no aesthetic gain. Quite the contrary,, the dramatic shift that Locatelli makes is replaced by a relatively mundane continuation of the same. And precisely because the passage is so difficult as written - even Kantarow has trouble with it in his justly celebrated performance with Orchestre d'Auvergne - if she had been able to perform the passage perfectly cleanly she would have had had every motive to do so. I don't know of any violinist who has managed the feat. Indeed, does anyone perform the passage more cleanly than does Chloe (who is clearly more successful Ilya Gringolts in this regard). Maybe Kerson Leong? (There aren't that many candidates. Kristine is far from being the only one who avoids the passage. I've had exactly the same conversation regarding a note that Chloe pinches in the final movement of her CD live performance of Vivaldi's "Summer," consequent to the ultra-rapid shift that is required to get to it." It is true that violinists such as Fischer and Chen don't pinch the note, but the reason is that they don't even attempt it: they just leave the note and the passage that follows it to the first violins.)
You forgot Edson Scheid. He recorded all Paganini's caprices on a period violin and bow. Since playing on but strings is harder, he has accomplished a great feat
******* - thank you so much for introducing me to antal zalai - finally something wonderful to listen to that I haven't run across since jascha heifetz et al in the 60's :)
Oh course! He has some of the most beautiful non-shoulder rest technique I’ve ever seen. I don’t really consider him to be that obscure, though. Every violinist I know is a fan
MMA, thank you again for valuable infos. I was ignorant about Chloe's progress before making comments. I also noticed Hahn swings with music in phase at times. I guess I am toned to the classical players like Milstein and Oistrakh. Forgive my naive statement about Stern's playing. but I much rather listening to the other two. Menuhin is another similar player like Stern. His bowing is way beyond repair. Just watch how he played with Oistrakh in Bach double. But he enjoyed huge respect and highly regarded in UK...
>>"Menuhin is another similar player like Stern. His bowing is way beyond repair." As is manifest in his early recordings Menuhin's bowing was not audibly problematic in his youth. Quite the contrary! It was only later in his career that it became so. Whether it became so because of in-grained and longstanding defects in his bowing technique, or to physiological problems in his bow arm that arose independently, is moot.
I only know Antal Zalai from one video that I listened/watched and that is the Moses Fantasy piece from Paganini because I'm learning that piece. All the other violinists I don't know
Caitlin Tully came to Charlotte when she was 13 and played Shostakovich 1st concerto. Still to this day one of the most astounding performances I’ve witnessed. She’s an Ivy League lawyer now.
I think Teo Gertler is a huge young promise virtuoso, very deep musical understanding at his young age, a very distinctive sound, I think he is worth being mentioned
The ultimate, bar-none best violinist no one has ever heard of is the incomparable Franz von Vecsey. A Paganini biography (written almost 100 years ago) stated in the first paragraph of the book that the young Vecsey had people wondering whether the Genoese (Paganini) was once again with us in the flesh. I thought "what a terrible way to start a book on Paganini". Indeed, no one ever matched him. But I then began listening to Vecsey's recordings...and wow! To me, he was the 2nd greatest violinist to ever live, and certainly the most skilled violinist ever recorded. And he happened to play the very same violin, the Kubelick Guarneri, played by my favourite violinist, Michael Rabin!
Just watched to the end, lol don't throw shade at gringolts like that, he is a OG master and a lot of twoset fans don't even know and this will be their first exposure to him. I want to see a video of Tobiah Murphy playing the locatelli cadenza
Karolina has more than 8 million subscribers and Alina hasn't even got 1k. That is a shame. I think she deserves more and I prefer her playing than Karolina's.
Karolina focus more on dancing with violin, she is charting a new territory. With that perspective, I am not surprised Karolina violin technique is not master level.
Shunsuke Sato's non-baroque playing is a prime example of this. look at his Ysaye sonatas scattered around youtube, Daniel kurganov posted some of them.
Among the still young violinists who are extremely talented, have you heard of Himari (Yoshimura) ? Accepted at the Curtis Institute when she was 10, she is now 12 and is already incredible. Among her best performances visible on youtube, the recital and concerto at Montreal (11 y. old) : ruclips.net/video/wLS6fROSSUA/видео.html&pp=ygUGaGltYXJp and ruclips.net/video/azsPonbN7uk/видео.html&pp=ygUGaGltYXJp . Her Vivaldi 'summer' is simply beautiful. Her Max Bruch performance is imbued with feelings : ruclips.net/video/PUph4FgQBk8/видео.html&pp=ygUVaGltYXJpIGJydWNoIGNvbmNlcnRv . And here is her last performance of Paganini first concerto (11 yo) : ruclips.net/video/gLKxCepq6s8/видео.html&pp=ygUYaGltYXJpIHBhZ2FuaW5pIGNvbmNlcnRv
Thank you! love you introduce these fresh sound and new interpretations; …. but I get ads almost every minute, it went over my screen time limit I had to ask for more time;
@@MurphyMusicAcademy Well, I have been a violinist for 30 years (concentrating on baroque violin), and what I probably should have said is that I would love you to do more playing than you post. I know your high reputation, so more music please!
I had the pleasure to listen to Lilja here in my home town Lahti, Finland in our Independence Day concert 6th December. I (and the whole audience) was gobsmacked by her exceptional talent, musicality and how she managed to put her soul into the pieces she was playing. And she was only twelve years at the time! She is indeed a very rare talent.
By the way, Haatainen is pronounced as you did in the video, a long a sound at the beginning, but the letters ai in the middle are pronounced as the pronoun I. So it would sound like as follows: [ha:tainen]
Thank you so much for mentioning Goldstein here and all of them! I discovered Goldstein's Wieniawski's 1st concerto and became a fan after listening. It's really meaningful for all of us to discover unknown violinists not only because they deserves it, but also giving us a better sight in the music world. There are people such as Fumiaki Miura and Daniel Lozakovich who I'll choose over some famous violinists being hidden and it's such a pity...It's really difficult for next generation to have a name in the classical music world because most people often over watch these famous violinists.
Very inspiring! I had heard of Lilja somewhere along this journey of listening to great violinist but so glad you brought her and the others to the attention of your audience! They are very deserving indeed!
Proud to say I knew of Antal Zalai before this video! Thank you for highlighting these talented artists, Tobia!
Zalai is incredible.
First of all, I think that was Chloe’s first or maybe second time leading an ensemble. She would not have had many opportunities in Singapore, and yet her interaction with the orchestra was as if she’d been playing with them for years. Notice there’s no conductor, so she’s leading the orchestra there, having to play her solo but also gesturing and signaling to the concert master and the rest of the ensemble to keep them all together. Secondly, I think in this same year she played an extremely unusual avant garde work that required the most delicate bow work. And lastly, Chloe just has a captivating stage presence that makes you want to hear more. She’s so focused. You really feel the music through her. And maybe twoset made her really famous, but she was winning all those contests and playing overseas before all that. And if you look at her work with Twoset, you see how expert she really is, correcting their fingering and offering suggestions on technique.
I think with other virtuosos and prodigies, you feel “wow, isn’t she great,” but with Chloe, you feel “wow, the violin is really cool.” She doesn’t go out of her way to make what she’s doing look difficult or challenging, even though we all know it is. She just plays, and that’s what we appreciate about her.
she didn't learn unusual avant garde works lol
@@PM_ME_MESSIAEN_PICS
>>"she didn't learn unusual avant garde works lol."
On the contrary, Chloe has done just that,. "unusual avant garde work" being a fair description of the work "Self in Mind" that she performed superbly in the final of the 2018 junior Menuhin competition (when she was 11).
The work was commissioned by the Menuhin competition from the Korean composer Jaehyuk Choi specifically for that occasion.
>>"Secondly, I think in this same year she played an extremely unusual avant garde work"
It was the same music year (2017-18) but a different calendar year.
Chloe gave this performance of Mozart #4 in September 2017 (in the Zhuhai Mozart competition, when she was 10) and gave the performance you are referring to - of Jaehyuck Choi's "Self in Mind" - in April 2018 (in the Menuhin Competition junior final, three months after she had turned 11).
This is a wonderful idea.. These people need more attention to their work…
I'd been thinking about this video for a while. It all finally came together after discovering Lilja Haatainen last month
Tobiah have you heard Alexander Labko??? I recently was introduced to him in a Livestream between Julia Bushkova and Daniel Kurganov ( other violin gem channels that I’m 99% you’re aware of 😂). There’s a bunch of gems Daniel has been recently unearthing from depths of RUclips or uploading recordings of.
@@dvides89 yes! I remember Daniel talking about him. He’s great
I never heard of Lilja. Wow stellar!
I saw Chloe win Menuhin, I knew she won it, also amazing.
Hoping to hear them in future
Baited by the thumbnail. I'm a Chloe fan so I admit I was a bit guarded. Glad I finished the vid. Lilja was just..... Wow, can't even find the words to describe. Thanks for including the channel links for those you recommended, and good job trying something different!
@@Punch_is_thinkingusing a common name for more clicks
I think one possible reason they don't get the fame and success they "deserve" is simply that they don't want it. It requires effort and a certain kind of motive to put yourself out there, and some people are just content doing whatever they are already doing.
Kerson Leon has a brilliant technique and unbelievable vibe. I just checked his Locatelli cadenza and he almost nailed it. I consider his Ysaye among the best.
Saw him live last summer playing Tzigane and it was insane, one of the best sounds I heard in a concert
I love that his sound is very unique, distinctive and outstanding, great technique, although his excessive vibrato and some minor musical choices get very annoying sometimes
I love that this is basically just a 'support these underappreciated musicians' video.
Yup!
Thank you for introducing me to Lilja!
Isn't she just brilliant??!!
@@MurphyMusicAcademy Yes! Agree with all you said about her.
So glad you have highlighted Antal Zalai. I’ve been a big fan of his for quite some time. Another great violinist that deserves more recognition is Kirill Troussov. Watch his performance of Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. Also glad you mentioned Boris Goldstein. Other underrated artists are David Nadien, Oscar Shumsky, Steven Staryk, Aaron Rosand, and Benno Rabinoff. Among today’s young up and comers who deserve more attention, take a look at Hana Chang. 🙏🏻🎻
Thanks for this video, it is great to get to know all these tremendous violinists!
Did you know Philippe Hirschhorm ? I discovered this incredible violinist 2 weeks ago and he instantly became my favorite one…
I actually considered putting him in the video, but since Daniel Kurganov has done a good job of making him more well known and since I already had a dead guy on the list I decided to leave him off. But he is wonderful.
it's truly sad that he never was truly famous :((((( guy has the most ridiculous looking technique i've ever seen@@MurphyMusicAcademy
@MusicAcademy Philippe Hirschhorm is not the most famous indeed, but he is very known especially here in Belgium because of the Queen Elizabeth Competition. He is also one of the teacher of Janine Jansen, together with Boris Belkin. (Belkin had a lot of very good students in Italy and Maastricht. )
In Belgium there are some very talented children as well, Check Victorine Meurice, she is on the good path and also working recently with Belkin
Very inspiring to watch. Great to be introduced to violinists I don't hear about. What a treat.
thanks for this incredible video. I am so happy that you introduced me to that young Finnish violinist. She is something else to be certain. Also I want to thank you for the lesson that I had with you a while back. I was unable to go forward with more for a couple of reasons, one was arthritis. Nonetheless your teaching approach is fantastic and I still with hope of less pain in my left thumb to return to playing again. Take care and more of this content would be great.
We definitely need a part 2 of this! I highly suggest an oldschool czech violinist Váša Příhoda, his playing is divine and he certainly doesn't get the recognition he should have
I LOVE Vasa Prihoda
Merci ! Thank for unveiling these talented violinists!
So glad Kristine Balanas made the top spot of your list! I found her performances accidentally because I knew her sister Margarita, who's a cellist. And I agree that it's probably the fact her style is less flashy that makes her less well-known. Thanks for this list and also wonderful to see Lilja on here, whose performance I saw in the Louis Spohr final in '22 and who's absolutely one of those magical young musicians of today :)
i've heard of 3 of the 5, and i've been a big Zalai fan for years. he's been very generous with his video postings. 50 years ago, you could only hear a relatively small number of great fiddlers from buying LP's, or on the radio, or going to concerts in person. thanks to the internet, we find out there's not just a few great ones, there's literally thousands, all over the world. it's amazing the volume of talent "out there". i suspect it was always thus; we just had no way to be aware of them.
Excellent video!
Just the mentioning of the lesser known but none the less players is worth my salute. Thank you.
these are great!
am gonna have to listen to them on your say so, Tobiah, since my ears aren't all that discerning
Thanks for the video.
Your are most inspiring and has lots of positive energy.
And has great solo skills like super violin soloists
Thank you 👍 Antal zalai is great .
Interesting and nicely done. It goes to show there might be some outstanding violinists who are hardly known at all.
Zalai is very musical and seems a thinking musician with immense talent. His Wieniawski Polonaise in A Major is beautiful and imaginative - not at all mechanical like some lesser versions. Some of his Paganini Caprices are amongst my favourites. Mr Dyo seems really involved and very good, but here his vibrato seems a bit excessive at times. Balanas isn't flashy at all , but the music comes through beautifully.
In my opinion Narita is another violinist who deserves to be on this list. His Paganini Concerto no 1 is quite dramatic, but there are moments of reflection as well. He has a big, expressive tone and the phrasing is quite individual. As far as I can make out, he isn't famous yet.
Tobiah:
Thanks for the video. I also discovered Antal Zalai during the COVID lockdown, when he was producing a number mini videos during this time.
On Isaac Stern: My violin teacher was talking about him and his "East Coast associates" (he had another term for it) in one of our lessons, at the time when Stern was still alive. I won't mention names for those who are still around, but you probably know who I am referring to.
He mentioned a run-in between one of Stern's protégés and a then up-and-coming Korean violinist under Josef Gingold. The two went head to head in a competition. The Korean violinist was initially awarded first prize and the protégé came second. Stern got fed up and demanded to repeat the final round for them both, and the jury still stood with their decision - after two more repeats. Eventually a compromise was reached, in which they were both declared winners.
There was also another story about a cellist (then a student of Mstislav Rostropovich), with whom Stern was looking to replace the recently deceased Jacqueline du Pré, Stern recommended that he be mentored by Leonard Rose, a friend of theirs. This cellist unknowingly offended Stern by studying with Gregor Piatigorsky instead, one of the (West Coast) associates of Jascha Heifetz. The place of du Pré was eventually taken by another one of Rose's students, a Chinese American, with Stern's blessing.
As far as I know, both musicians in question are still able to flourish, but their successes are most mostly from outside the US.
Okay, enough violinist gossip for now!
P.S. - The Isaac Stern recording of the Brahms with Eugene Normandy was the second rendition of the concerto I have ever heard (the first being Yehudi and Kurt Masur on A&E, when it was still more Arts than Entertainment) . My sentiment of it was exactly the same as Aaron Rosand's description of his playing in general, from the article you cited.
I've been following Lija for a while. She is amazing. But I did not know the others. Nice video
Thank you for introducing Antal Zalai! Somehow he looked familiar, and when I looked him up, I found out why. He’s actually currently a professor at the Royal Brussels Conservatory in my country, Belgium. He had participated in the Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in 2005 and came in as a finalist, whilst being a student of the same school he’s a professor at. That competition is of similar renown as the Indianapolis Competition. Thanks again!
Yes, the Balanas siblings! So good and really fun. Also, wow Gibboni
Tobias please make more of these inspiring videos with your outstanding commentary 👍
Your knowledge is outstanding 😁🙏🏽
Excellent video! I've (surprisingly) seen Lilja at some point on the interwebs! Believe she's around 12 or 13 yrs old now... Also my jaw dropped at Antal Zalai with only one string! And thank you for recognizing Boris Goldstein.
Chloe is the best of these❤
Very enjoyable video! I'm a fan of young Teo Gertler from Slovakia, age 15. Have you seen him play? RUclips has many of his performances.
I know that Roman Kim is famous off the charts, but I would definitely love to hear your opinion of him and his technique. 😊
This video deserves all the awards
you should do more parts of this series, discovering hidden gems of violinists
Merci de faire découvrir ces immenses talents, et d'accorder votre attention autant sur la précision technique de Balanas que sur la sensibilité fine de Haatainen. Pour qui a des oreilles honnêtes insensibles au bruit médiatique, il est clair que les vidéos de Chloe et Lilja ne soufrent pas la comparaison, sur les 2 aspects, technique et musicalité.
About the comparison between Kristine Balanas and Chloe Chua on playing that section by Locatelli, it is not quite fair as both are not even within the same age group not to mention that this will mean the experience level in playing a particular piece. In addition, Kristine was playing at a slower tempo compared to Chloe. Hence, clarity will be different.
ive just double checked with wikipedia, here's short rules for finnish vowels: ,,,, like spanish/japanese/swahili/slavic, pretty standard stuff. is like german ü, is like german ö, and is like in english "pat/tack/cap", so if you can do the german umlauts, then finnish isn't so hard.
Very nice video. To me, one of the most underrated violinists out there is the albanian Tedi Papavrami. His Bartok solo sonata is just insane, and now he's recording Scarlatti's Keyboard Sonatas transcribed for solo violin by himself and some of them are wicked (check the k322 for example).
Oh yeah! I forgot about him! He’s fantastic!
Gosh boris Goldstein is amazing!
As always, thanks for the education.😉🎻👨🏻
Chloé can’t be topped, in my opinion
Hello Mr. Murthy! I have recently found the older recordings of the absolutely wonderful violonist Ilian Garnet at the Queen Elizabeth Competition where he performed the Shostakovich Violin Concerto nr.1 in a masterful manner and the most beautiful Mozart 3 performance I have heard in a long time and not only those, he has a lot more recordings that are deserving of much more recognition!
Roman kim is also relatively unknown. My opinion is to a top 3 player period.
Roman is an absolutely a one of a kind violinist! I was also surprised not to see him included
Wonderful Presentation . Thank You
Brilliant video, gave me so much stuff more to listen to!
I never heard of TwoSet Violin but, thanks to Murphy Music, we have heard these awesome violinists.
Im am 74 studied with some of the best. Today I live in Asia . Chinese parents have no problem practicing 12 hrs a day with no break. The results are however mindblowing! The talent is so crazy soo young
A very underrated Hungarian violinist is Joseph Lendvay. I think he played the 24 Caprices by Paganini so good.
Now that is a name I haven’t heard for a long time! I saw him perform as a young child. He was my first introduction to Paganini
Was Antal Zalai playing a violin with only the G string in that first clip? Holy freak of nature batman!
The first two, I hadn't heard of, but I know of the rest. These days, it is not unusual for great violinists to go unrecognised, because the market for outstanding violinists is saturated. At any given time, there are thousands of excellent violinists in the process of honing their craft, whilst receiving the kind of nurturing that will ultimately culminate in the creation of another outstanding violinist. There's a production line of them, thanks to enormous growth in the industry, greater knowledge and ever widening opportunities for people to pursue this career path. It's not like back in the day when Heifetz astonished the musical world with his unrivalled level of playing. Much more is known about how to reach, modern, high levels of violin playing.
Making it in the arts is not just about having ability. Promotion, exposure, having connections, what you look like etc. All of these things matter, something the great teacher, Dorothy Delay, understood, which is part of the reason why so many of her students went on to have big careers.
There are too many names to mention, but Ann Fontanella is another one that disappeared into obscurity. I mention her because it seems as though she intentionally abandoned pursuit of a career at the beginning of it, despite all indicators suggesting she would have had a big one. I'm speculating, but I think her interest in a career may have been diminished by the untimely death (from cancer) of her teacher and mentor, Erick Friedman.
Boris Goldstein was actually very well known and admired in my childhood in musical Leningrad.
Unfortunately, I never heard the others (or the Murphy Music Academy).
❤Tobia thank you for a fabulous video
You should add Youra Lee. I just discovered her and is just INCREDIBLE! ( was a child prodigy,)
Kristine Balanas looks like she is fingering the Locatelli differently than the other two violinists. The melody note is high up on the G string, putting the melody on the beat at the down bow thus giving it more intensity and attention. I haven’t studied this piece myself, but It appears that the violinist can choose how to play the chords (similar to the Bach Chaconne?) Krisitine certainly chose a pattern that is very well thought out, as you’ve pointed out
>>"Kristine Balanas looks like she is fingering the Locatelli differently than the other two violinists."
She isn't just fingering the passage - namely, measures 44 to 53 of the caprice - differently.
She simply isn't performing the score.
The passage is extremely difficult consequent to the starting point of the melody being raised dramatically. In measure 38, where the clip of Kristine starts, the starting point is c#5, but at measure 44 the starting point is raised to f#6, an aggravating factor being a similarly marked stretching of the arpeggio ground.
Kristine simply doesn't even attempt to negotiate the resulting difficulty. Instead, in measures 44 to 53 she performs the melody an octave lower than written. That is, at measure 44 she starts the melody not at f#6 but at f#5. So doing allows the melody to be performed on the g-string.
Her choice has got nothingto do with any licence regarding chords. There is no f# in the
arpeggio ground of the passage. Rather, she is simply copping out.
The answer to Tobiah's question as to how she achieves such clarity is provided by the adage: "The best way to solve the problems posed by a difficult passage is to perform an easier one."
Tobiah needs to response to this, now it seems like Chloe is the gangster when it comes to clarity and cleanliness of that passage @@jackburgess8579
*sigh
Really didn’t want to as I’m kind of tired of the arguing about this, but since it’s come to this here it goes:
Firstly, yes, I was well aware that Balanas did something different there.
Secondly, what she did is actually much more difficult than what is written. I took a gander at the music. The section in question is tricky, but I don’t see why so many violinists seem to just plow through it. If played slightly slower and with more care it can be just as clean and clear as the rest of it. However it is MUCH more difficult, at least at first try, to make a clear sound/intonation when playing it on the G-String. I tried. If I had a choice in performance I’d definitely go with what Locatelli wrote instead of what Balanas does.
That being said, it is possible that that is easier for her to do. Sometimes there are weird things more difficult for everyone else that one person just find easier for some reason. Doesn’t change the fact that what she did was monstrously difficult, not easier, and she played it with incredible tone and clarity.
Now, I’m done with this. I’ve said my piece. Jack is a good guy that has intelligently expressed his opinions. But I’m not arguing about it anymore.
now we want to see the video of you trying both approaches@@MurphyMusicAcademy
@@MurphyMusicAcademy
O come on!
It isn't plausible at all that Kristine has chosen to diverge from the score to any purpose other than to avoid the difficulties of the passage.
Obviously, there is no aesthetic gain. Quite the contrary,, the dramatic shift that Locatelli makes is replaced by a relatively mundane continuation of the same.
And precisely because the passage is so difficult as written - even Kantarow has trouble with it in his justly celebrated performance with Orchestre d'Auvergne - if she had been able to perform the passage perfectly cleanly she would have had had every motive to do so.
I don't know of any violinist who has managed the feat. Indeed, does anyone perform the passage more cleanly than does Chloe (who is clearly more successful Ilya Gringolts in this regard).
Maybe Kerson Leong?
(There aren't that many candidates. Kristine is far from being the only one who avoids the passage.
I've had exactly the same conversation regarding a note that Chloe pinches in the final movement of her CD live performance of Vivaldi's "Summer," consequent to the ultra-rapid shift that is required to get to it." It is true that violinists such as Fischer and Chen don't pinch the note, but the reason is that they don't even attempt it: they just leave the note and the passage that follows it to the first violins.)
You forgot Edson Scheid. He recorded all Paganini's caprices on a period violin and bow. Since playing on but strings is harder, he has accomplished a great feat
I ma playing in the orchestra in the Chloe video:)
NICE! The Mozart or the Locatelli?
******* - thank you so much for introducing me to antal zalai - finally something wonderful to listen to that I haven't run across since jascha heifetz et al in the 60's :)
Chloe best forever
Ever heard of Tibor Varga?
He was an amazing interpret, profoundly musical, and he produced ever so beautiful sounds on the violin!
Worth researching!
Yes! I went on a bit of a bender just listening to him about a month ago. Truly a forgotten gem!
To be fair Chloe Chua learnt the harmonic labyrinth in only 1 month
Do you know of Kerson leong? He’s incredible you should look at him
Oh course! He has some of the most beautiful non-shoulder rest technique I’ve ever seen. I don’t really consider him to be that obscure, though. Every violinist I know is a fan
@@MurphyMusicAcademy you know I’m curious what you think about Roman Kim
i feel like people like kerson leong and antal zalai are people that all the violinists know about but not casual listeners@@MurphyMusicAcademy
thank you very much for "bel canto" - now i have a name for what i like.
Totally agree about Antal.
MMA, thank you again for valuable infos. I was ignorant about Chloe's progress before making comments. I also noticed Hahn swings with music in phase at times. I guess I am toned to the classical players like Milstein and Oistrakh. Forgive my naive statement about Stern's playing. but I much rather listening to the other two. Menuhin is another similar player like Stern. His bowing is way beyond repair. Just watch how he played with Oistrakh in Bach double. But he enjoyed huge respect and highly regarded in UK...
>>"Menuhin is another similar player like Stern. His bowing is way beyond repair."
As is manifest in his early recordings Menuhin's bowing was not audibly problematic in his youth. Quite the contrary! It was only later in his career that it became so.
Whether it became so because of in-grained and longstanding defects in his bowing technique, or to physiological problems in his bow arm that arose independently, is moot.
there is NO WAY i miss such a brilliant violinist after watching so many of his shorts(Vladimir Dyo)
I know right!
Alright! Guess what! My mom (violin teacher) went to the same high school at the same time with Antal Zalai (Szalai Antal)! Go for it, Hungary 🇭🇺!
Whoa, that is cool!
I recently discovered him. Really enjoy his polonaise in a/wienawsky performance on RUclips.
Great stuff !
Zalai one of the best in the world! Awesome talent!🙏🙏🙏
I only know Antal Zalai from one video that I listened/watched and that is the Moses Fantasy piece from Paganini because I'm learning that piece. All the other violinists I don't know
Old school Vasa Prihoda is quite unknown and underrated, incredible natural talent
I recently became aware of Oscar Shumsky. I have been listening to the classics for 60 years and never heard of him before. He is the equal of ANYONE!
Caitlin Tully came to Charlotte when she was 13 and played Shostakovich 1st concerto. Still to this day one of the most astounding performances I’ve witnessed. She’s an Ivy League lawyer now.
the future for the violin world looks promising with more prodigies revealing themselves 😼
I think Teo Gertler is a huge young promise virtuoso, very deep musical understanding at his young age, a very distinctive sound, I think he is worth being mentioned
Thank you for your awesome video!
I am also big fan of Balana"s family.
You should take a look also Soyoung Yoon,she is brilliant.
Am giving up after seeing this much talent omg 😢
Why?
The ultimate, bar-none best violinist no one has ever heard of is the incomparable Franz von Vecsey. A Paganini biography (written almost 100 years ago) stated in the first paragraph of the book that the young Vecsey had people wondering whether the Genoese (Paganini) was once again with us in the flesh. I thought "what a terrible way to start a book on Paganini". Indeed, no one ever matched him. But I then began listening to Vecsey's recordings...and wow! To me, he was the 2nd greatest violinist to ever live, and certainly the most skilled violinist ever recorded. And he happened to play the very same violin, the Kubelick Guarneri, played by my favourite violinist, Michael Rabin!
Great to hear about these very talented violinists, especially the little girl. What about Himari?
Himari is ruled out because she falls into the "already very famous (and rightly so)" category,.
I stumbled on to your video and am so glad I did. Very interesting and so nice to be introduced to more great violinists. 👍👍
I missed my all-time favourite: Arthur Grumiaux
Not exactly a not well-known violinist, though
Just watched to the end, lol don't throw shade at gringolts like that, he is a OG master and a lot of twoset fans don't even know and this will be their first exposure to him. I want to see a video of Tobiah Murphy playing the locatelli cadenza
Karolina has more than 8 million subscribers and Alina hasn't even got 1k. That is a shame. I think she deserves more and I prefer her playing than Karolina's.
I think Lilja’s mother’s channel, actually. Pretty sure she’s not doing a lot on her own on social media, which is a good thing
Karolina focus more on dancing with violin, she is charting a new territory. With that perspective, I am not surprised Karolina violin technique is not master level.
Have you listened to Roman Kim? I think he has redefined what you can do with the violin. I think he doesn’t get so much recognition.
Really great idea for a series! Maybe call it “Crack Violinists”.
it was rigt there 😂 the child mislead me😂😂😂
For amazing violists I would suggest Helena Baillie and Willhelm Magner… Both still tiny channels that could use some help :)
i love magner's passacglia transcription lol
agreed about Lilyia
Shunsuke Sato's non-baroque playing is a prime example of this. look at his Ysaye sonatas scattered around youtube, Daniel kurganov posted some of them.
His Ysaye is so good and so fresh
How about Ruth Posselt? She was married to Richard Burgin, the concertmaster of the Boston Symphony and has some recordings on RUclips. Check it out.
I was surprised not to see Roman Kim, whom I discovered for the first time in the last year.
Tobiah's video is about "the best violinists you have never heard of."
Roman Kim is not a candidate for inclusion - for he is very well known.
Among the still young violinists who are extremely talented, have you heard of Himari (Yoshimura) ? Accepted at the Curtis Institute when she was 10, she is now 12 and is already incredible. Among her best performances visible on youtube, the recital and concerto at Montreal (11 y. old) : ruclips.net/video/wLS6fROSSUA/видео.html&pp=ygUGaGltYXJp and ruclips.net/video/azsPonbN7uk/видео.html&pp=ygUGaGltYXJp . Her Vivaldi 'summer' is simply beautiful. Her Max Bruch performance is imbued with feelings : ruclips.net/video/PUph4FgQBk8/видео.html&pp=ygUVaGltYXJpIGJydWNoIGNvbmNlcnRv . And here is her last performance of Paganini first concerto (11 yo) : ruclips.net/video/gLKxCepq6s8/видео.html&pp=ygUYaGltYXJpIHBhZ2FuaW5pIGNvbmNlcnRv
Himari is great but not exactly unknown, she was more famous than Chloe before Chloe won the Menuhin
@@Tripod-ld4qvIt seems Himari already has the X factor!
Robert balanas seems familiar. Not in any Twilight movies but I know i've seen him somewhere on youtube.
Make a video about Leia Zhu
Not in the same category, but on my list would be Artur Banaszkiewicz, arturviolin.
Thank you! love you introduce these fresh sound and new interpretations; …. but I get ads almost every minute, it went over my screen time limit I had to ask for more time;
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I don’t actually control the ads, RUclips distributes them throughout the video
This is a man deeply in love with the sound of his own voice. Personally, I prefer the violin.
Then go listen to their performances and sun to their channels! 👍
@@MurphyMusicAcademy Well, I have been a violinist for 30 years (concentrating on baroque violin), and what I probably should have said is that I would love you to do more playing than you post. I know your high reputation, so more music please!