DVD Videos

Vengerov's formidable musical genius and commitment have brought him the highest musical prizes and a huge army of fans along the way. Living the Dream, which began filming November 2004, traces the hectic jet set life of the 30 year old master violinist, appearing in concert and recital across the globe. It takes us from his last concert at the end of 2004 in Istanbul, through his return to his childhood home in Novosibirsk in the depths of a Russian winter, to his premiere performance of a brand new commissioned concerto in Hannover. During this time he is working and preparing for the new concerto, composed by Benjamin Yusupov, which involves him playing viola, improvising rock on an electric violin, and dancing the Tango to the last movement. We see him having improvisation lessons from the jazz violinist Didier Lockwood, taking Tango lessons with Sebastian Misse and Andrea Reyero in Paris, devising the Tango choreography with his partner Christiane Palha in Amsterdam, and finally the performance to wild acclaim of the "Viola Tango Rock Concerto" with Eije Oue in Hannover. Maxim also reflects on how the experience of his sabbatical has impacted on his recording and interpretation of the Beethoven concerto with the LSO and Maestro Rostropovich. <br /><br />This programme, and the accompanying concert from Moscow are full of dazzling virtuoso pieces by Paganini, Ysaye, Wienawski, Kreisler, Rachmaninov and more - before an ecstatic audience in Moscow's Conservatory. This is a fascinating study of Vengerov at a crucial period in his life - capturing some stunning performance sequences, and revealing his thoughts and emotions as he seeks to change and control his life and broaden his challenges. It provides a uniquely intimate glimpse of a master talent at the peak of his powers, yet still in development, searching for new fields to explore and conquer.

Student: Nasrin Rashidova

Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most exciting and brilliant violinists. His exceptional talent emerged when he was very young. He gave his first recital at the age of five and went on to win First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old, confirming his promise as a violinist of rare talent. Still in his mid-thirties he is now acknowledged throughout the world as one of the great musicians of our time. He is also an outstanding teacher and is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Perceptive, entertaining and always sensitive to the individual personality and ability of his pupils, he has an extraordinary ability to convey his insights into the music and inspire his students.

In this masterclass, he works on the first two movements from Bach's First Sonata for Solo Violin.

Student: Mártha Déak

Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most exciting and brilliant violinists. His exceptional talent emerged when he was very young. He gave his first recital at the age of five and went on to win First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old, confirming his promise as a violinist of rare talent. Still in his mid-thirties he is now acknowledged throughout the world as one of the great musicians of our time.He is also an outstanding teacher and is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Perceptive, entertaining and always sensitive to the individual personality and ability of his pupils, he has an extraordinary ability to convey his insights into the music and inspire his students.

In this masterclass, he works on the first movement of Mozart's third Violin Concerto.

Students: Hayley Wolfe (Violin) & Marisa Gupta (Piano)

Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most exciting and brilliant violinists. His exceptional talent emerged when he was very young. He gave his first recital at the age of five and went on to win First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old, confirming his promise as a violinist of rare talent. Still in his mid-thirties he is now acknowledged throughout the world as one of the great musicians of our time. He is also an outstanding teacher and is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Perceptive, entertaining and always sensitive to the individual personality and ability of his pupils, he has an extraordinary ability to convey his insights into the music and inspire his students.

In this masterclass, he works on the first movement of Beethoven's Violin Sonata no 4 in A minor.

Student: Aya Sanada

Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most exciting and brilliant violinists. His prodigious talent emerged when he was very young. He gave his first recital at the age of five and went on to win First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old, confirming his promise as a violinist of rare talent. Still in his mid-thirties he is now acknowledged throughout the world as one of the great musicians of our time. He is also an outstanding teacher and is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Perceptive, entertaining and always sensitive to the individual personality and ability of his pupils, he has an extraordinary ability to convey his insights into the music and inspire his students.

In this masterclass, he works with a student on the first movement of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, one of the most loved works in the violin repertoire and a piece with which many young players have launched their solo careers.

Student: Eloisa-Fleur Thom

Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most exciting and brilliant violinists. His exceptional talent emerged when he was very young. He gave his first recital at the age of five and went on to win First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old, confirming his promise as a violinist of rare talent. Still in his mid-thirties he is now acknowledged throughout the world as one of the great musicians of our time. He is also an outstanding teacher and is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Perceptive, entertaining and always sensitive to the individual personality and ability of his pupils, he has an extraordinary ability to convey his insights into the music and inspire his students.

In this masterclass, he works on the first movement of Sibelius' Violin concerto.

Student: Pedro Meiriles

Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most exciting and brilliant violinists. His exceptional talent emerged when he was very young. He gave his first recital at the age of five and went on to win First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old, confirming his promise as a violinist of rare talent. Still in his mid-thirties he is now acknowledged throughout the world as one of the great musicians of our time. He is also an outstanding teacher and is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Perceptive, entertaining and always sensitive to the individual personality and ability of his pupils, he has an extraordinary ability to convey his insights into the music and inspire his students.

In this masterclass, he works on Ravels virtuoso showpiece, Tzigane

Student: Giovanni Guzzo

Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most exciting and brilliant violinists. His exceptional talent emerged when he was very young. He gave his first recital at the age of five and went on to win First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old, confirming his promise as a violinist of rare talent. Still in his mid-thirties he is now acknowledged throughout the world as one of the great musicians of our time.He is also an outstanding teacher and is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Perceptive, entertaining and always sensitive to the individual personality and ability of his pupils, he has an extraordinary ability to convey his insights into the music and inspire his students.

In this masterclass, he works on the first movement ofBenjamin Britten's haunting Violin Concerto.

Student: Mengla Huang

Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most exciting and brilliant violinists. His exceptional talent emerged when he was very young. He gave his first recital at the age of five and went on to win First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old, confirming his promise as a violinist of rare talent. Still in his mid-thirties he is now acknowledged throughout the world as one of the great musicians of our time.He is also an outstanding teacher and is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Perceptive, entertaining and always sensitive to the individual personality and ability of his pupils, he has an extraordinary ability to convey his insights into the music and inspire his students.

In this masterclass, he works on Sarasate's virtuoso showpiece, The Carmen Fantasy.

Student: Maria Oldak

Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most exciting and brilliant violinists. His exceptional talent emerged when he was very young. He gave his first recital at the age of five and went on to win First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old, confirming his promise as a violinist of rare talent. Still in his mid-thirties he is now acknowledged throughout the world as one of the great musicians of our time.He is also an outstanding teacher and is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Perceptive, entertaining and always sensitive to the individual personality and ability of his pupils, he has an extraordinary ability to convey his insights into the music and inspire his students.

This is a new masterclass on the Mendelssohn Concerto, with a second student.