It’s about that time. Time for some more amazing violin solos. But really, when isn’t it time to get inspired by interesting and great artists?
- Let’s start old school with a televised performance by Yehudi Menuhin when television was still just black and white. Yes kids, back in the day popular television would indeed present classical works of art, like this virtuoso performance of Brahm’s Hungarian Dance No. 5.
- Alright, so if you look for it you can find amazing violin solos on television today, if not quite classical compositions. Here’s Caroline Campbell performing Bond theme “Skyfall” accompanied by David Foster on piano during one of his televised Las Vegas shows.
- “The Death of a Violin”: Man, that sounds ominous. String by popping string, a falling bridge, this intense performance by Tunisian violinist Imed Samti gives you an inside look into the sacrifices a violin is willing to make for art.
- Here’s David Garrett playing the romantic classic “O Sole Mio” among the rooftops in that most romantic country, Italy. He recorded this performance towards the end of an Italian tour, where he hits some pretty sweet high notes.
- House music with an acqua-colored violin? Popular DJ and violinist DSharp shares his cover of Martin Garrix’s “Animals.” DSharp doesn’t limit himself to house music. You can find him killing other covers and videos of his DJ events here and here.
- Time for another classic. This time it’s Itzchak Perlman with a live performance of Bach’s Partita in E major, during a lunch time concert at Saint John’s Smith Square in London. A man, his violin, and a masterpiece composition. Sometimes it doesn’t get any more inspiring than that.
- Back in the rehearsal room you can watch Nicola Benedetti and her long-time accompanist, Alexei Grynyuk on piano, playing the second movement Beethoven’s Sonata No.9 in A major Op.47, also known as the “Kreutzer Sonata.”
- A fierce and emotional performance by Ji-Hae Park as part of her TedTalks podcast. She plays a number of pieces, interspersed with her sharing personal stories of her depression and how her music lifted her out. The 12-minute performance starts with a furious darkness and ends with a piece from her album “Baroque in Rock,” the melodic “Sarabande” by Handel, which she takes it up a notch by rocking it out.
- Enjoy some jazz violin from Tim Kliphuis, playing “All of Me” in this high tempo, yet laid back performance.
- Strictly speaking, not a solo, but it’s so awesome, who cares? Tcha Limberger and Liana Gourdjia perform some gypsy jazz accompanied by Renaud Dardenne on guitar and Vilmos Csikos on the bass cello. No question, they are outstanding in their field. Be sure to watch to the end when it really heats up!
- Time for a Wild West showdown between Lindsay Stirling on the electric violin and some guy who thought he could take her down with an electric guitar, before she takes him down (along with his lunch money). A fun video of “Roundtable Rivalry” from her 2014 “Shatter Me” album.
- If that didn’t exhaust you, this probably will. Ben Lee holds the world record for playing the fastest violin ever. He takes a jewel-encrusted, Kevlar-made electric violin and slays some bumble bees, playing “Flight of the Bumblebee” in less than a minute. During his talk with the host, you’ll also get a little amped up Paganini as well.
- Alright, we need to go back old school to finish off. Here’s Josh Bell to soothe us with the first movement from Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto Op. 35, performed with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
Hope you found some inspiration!
Top image: DSharp, courtesy of YouTube video "Animals."
This article sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld
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