Best Violinist

Fritz Kreisler, born in Vienna in 1875, was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer whose playing became closely associated with warmth and expressive ease. His sweet vibrato and flexible phrasing gave short pieces a distinctive singing quality. He also wrote a substantial body of music for...

Born in New York City in 1916, Yehudi Menuhin emerged as a child prodigy and developed an international career as a violinist and conductor that spanned much of the twentieth century. Classical and Romantic concertos formed a central part of his repertoire. His performances and recordings also refle...

David Oistrakh was a Soviet violinist and conductor born in Odesa in 1908. His career became closely linked to composers whose works helped define twentieth-century violin repertoire. He premiered both of Dmitri Shostakovich's violin concertos and Aram Khachaturian's Violin Concerto, works written f...

American violinist Hilary Hahn, born in 1979, combines precise technique with a sustained commitment to new music. Her early training included study with Jascha Brodsky at the Curtis Institute of Music. An extensive discography covers established classical repertoire as well as contemporary works, a...

Born in Vilnius in 1901, when the city was part of the Russian Empire, Jascha Heifetz became an American violinist with a major international career. A child prodigy, he studied with Leopold Auer at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory before moving to the United States as a teenager. His extensive rec...

German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, born in 1963, came to international attention following her professional debut at the Lucerne Festival. A close mentorship with Herbert von Karajan led to frequent collaborations and helped establish her career in classical repertoire. Her playing is associated w...

Isaac Stern maintained a major international career as an American classical violinist from the 1940s until his death in 2001. His extensive recordings for Columbia Records covered solo repertoire and chamber music, including collaborations with pianist Eugene Istomin and cellist Leonard Rose. Those...

Pablo de Sarasate (1844–1908) was a Spanish violinist and composer, born in Pamplona, who became one of the most celebrated violin virtuosos of the late nineteenth century. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and toured internationally from his teenage years. His compositions, including Zigeunerwe...

Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) was a Hungarian-born violinist, conductor and composer whose work connected performance, composition and musical education in the Romantic era. Close relationships with Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann placed him within an important circle of nineteenth-century musician...

Arthur Grumiaux (1921–1986) was a Belgian violinist and pianist associated with the Franco-Belgian violin tradition. He studied under Alfred Dubois at the Brussels Conservatory and George Enescu in Paris. Grumiaux recorded extensively for Philips, with notable interpretations of Mozart, Bach, and Be...

Henryk Wieniawski (1835–1880) was a Polish violinist and composer regarded as one of the most significant violin virtuosos of the Romantic era. Born in Lublin, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and later held positions including court violinist to Tsar Alexander II in Saint Petersburg. His compo...

Henryk Szeryng (1918–1988) was a Polish-Mexican violinist noted for his refined tone and intellectual approach, having studied with Carl Flesch and Jacques Thibaud. During World War II he served as interpreter and cultural diplomat for the Polish government-in-exile, travelling on missions to Latin...

Gidon Kremer is a Latvian classical violinist and conductor, born in 1947 in Riga, Latvia. He gained international recognition after winning prestigious competitions in the 1960s, including the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and later studied under David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory....

Henri Vieuxtemps (1820–1881) was a prominent Belgian violinist and composer who played a central role in the development of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the Romantic era. A child prodigy who studied under Charles-Auguste de Bériot, he toured extensively across Europe and the United States...

Isabelle Faust is a German violinist born in 1972 who won the Paganini Competition in 1993. She performs on the 1704 Stradivarius known as the 'Sleeping Beauty' and is recognized for her historically informed approach to performance practice. Faust has recorded extensively, including critically accl...

Ginette Neveu was a French classical violinist born in 1919 who achieved international fame at a young age. In 1935, she won the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition at age 15, notably finishing ahead of David Oistrakh. Her career was cut tragically short when she died in a plane crash over the Azor...

Leonidas Kavakos is an internationally recognized Greek violinist and conductor, born in 1967. He gained early prominence by winning the Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki in 1985, followed by first prize at the Paganini Violin Competition in 1988. As a performer, he is particularly noted for h...

Christian Tetzlaff is a German violinist, born in 1966, who performs repertoire ranging from Bach to contemporary music. He plays a modern instrument built by Bonn luthier Stefan-Peter Greiner rather than a historic Cremonese violin. His recordings include the Bach sonatas and partitas, concertos by...

Bronisław Huberman was a Polish-Jewish violin virtuoso whose career spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Recognized as a child prodigy, he became known for his highly individualistic interpretations and distinctive use of tempo rubato. In 1936, he founded the Palestine Philharmonic Orches...

Kyung-Wha Chung is a South Korean violinist who gained international prominence in the late 20th century. Born in 1948, she studied at the Juilliard School and co-won the Leventritt Award in 1967, which launched her career with major orchestras across Europe and North America. She is recognized for...

Midori Goto is a Japanese-American classical violinist, born in 1971, recognized internationally for her technical precision and expressive performances. She first gained widespread public attention at the age of 14 during the 1986 Tanglewood Music Festival, where she famously completed her performa...

Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755–1824) was an Italian violinist and composer whose work heavily influenced the development of the modern Franco-Belgian violin school. He composed 29 violin concertos, with his Concerto No. 22 in A minor remaining a prominent piece in the classical repertoire. Following...

Joseph Szigeti (1892–1973) was a Hungarian-American violinist known for his intellectual approach to music and his advocacy for contemporary repertoire. He is closely associated with the works of Béla Bartók, premiering and recording his compositions. A notable moment in his career was a 1938 chambe...

Frank Peter Zimmermann is a German classical violinist born in 1965. Recognized internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, he frequently performs with major orchestras and conductors across Europe and North America. Zimmermann is highly regarded for his extensive discography, which includes...

Gil Shaham is an Israeli-American violinist born in 1971, recognized internationally for his solo performances and extensive discography. He frequently collaborates with major orchestras and conductors worldwide, maintaining a reputation for precise technique and a lyrical tone. Shaham's extensive r...

Pinchas Zukerman is an Israeli-American violinist, violist, and conductor born in 1948. After moving to the United States, he studied at the Juilliard School under Ivan Galamian and established a prominent international career. In addition to his extensive discography as a soloist, Zukerman served a...

Leopold Auer (1845–1930) was a Hungarian violinist and pedagogue who taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory for nearly fifty years, shaping what is often termed the Russian school of violin playing. His students included Jascha Heifetz, Mischa Elman, Efrem Zimbalist, and Nathan Milstein, among th...

Augustin Hadelich (born 1984) is a German-American violinist who overcame severe burn injuries from a 1999 farm fire that threatened to end his musical career. After winning the prestigious International Violin Competition of Indianapolis in 2006, Hadelich has established himself as one of his gener...

James Ehnes is a Canadian concert violinist born in Brandon, Manitoba, in 1976, recognized internationally for his solo recitals and orchestral appearances. He has established an extensive discography and won multiple Grammy Awards, notably for his recordings of Beethoven and Elgar chamber works. Eh...