{"id":109085,"date":"2024-11-01T09:10:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T13:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=109085"},"modified":"2024-10-31T21:11:14","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T01:11:14","slug":"interview-leonidas-kavakos-enduring-value-bach-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/11\/01\/interview-leonidas-kavakos-enduring-value-bach-time\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Leonidas Kavakos: On The Enduring Value Of Bach For Our Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Violinist
Violinist Leonidas Kavakos (Photos: Marco Borggreve)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos needs no introduction to classical music lovers. His recent release with Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, Beethoven for Three, hit the Classical Chartz Top Ten on April 8 and remained in the Top Ten for seven weeks.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also recorded with the likes of Yuja Wang, Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Mariinsky Orchestra, and other luminaries of the classical world. Along with that has come an international performing career on the world\u2019s most prominent stages. He plays on the Willemotte Stradivarius violin of 1734.<\/p>\n

When it comes to repertoire, he\u2019s tackled everything from Sibelius to Ysa\u00ffe, Mozart and Beethoven, and a great deal of Brahms. In 2022, he recorded Bach: Sei Solo, which included J.S. Bach\u2019s complete Partitas and Sonatas for Solo Violin on the Sony Classics label. Earlier this year, he followed up with a release of Bach\u2019s four concertos for violin with the Appolon Ensemble.<\/p>\n

Leonidas brings the repertoire for solo violin from the acclaimed 2022 release to Koerner Hall. His performances, not surprisingly, spreads the six works out over two days, (which will be his fourth and fifth appearances at the Royal Conservatory venue).<\/p>\n

On November 9, he\u2019ll play the Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV. 1006, Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV. 1003, and Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV. 1005. On November 10, he\u2019ll return with Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV. 1001, Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV. 1002, and Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004.<\/p>\n

We caught up with Kavakos to talk about the repertoire.<\/p>\n

\"Violinist
Violinist Leonidas Kavakos (Photo: Marco Borggreve)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leonidas Kavakos: The Interview<\/h2>\n

Music came naturally to Kavakos, who grew up in a musical household.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was around me,\u201d he says. \u201cMy father played the violin.\u201d His father practised violin at home, and his grandfather played folk music on the instrument. \u201cWe had this kind of tradition at home.\u201d His mother played piano, but young Leonidas was drawn to the violin, and decided to pursue it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes much bigger will to start a string instrument,\u201d he believes, \u201cbecause it is so impossibly difficult in the beginning.\u201d When he began to play, he was a child of perhaps five or six years of age, with tiny, tender fingers. \u201cIt’s just a nightmare.\u201d He points out the challenge, particularly to the youngest learners, of first managing to hold the violin properly, then use the bow with expression, along with fingering the pitches correctly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s all very unnatural. It’s actually quite painful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning to make music with it is another matter. \u201cI think it’s much, much harder,\u201d he says. \u201cTherefore, it’s much, much easier to quit.\u201d People like Leonidas, who don\u2019t quit, move on to a larger stage. But, that wasn\u2019t always a foregone conclusion in his case. \u201cMy father was quite tough with me,\u201d he recalls. That meant a couple of instances where he\u2019d quit studying the instrument for periods of time. \u201cBut something drew me back.\u201d<\/p>\n

At certain point, his uncertainty ended.<\/p>\n