MAIN PHOTO COURTESY BORIS KUSCHNIR. TOP PHOTO WOLF-DIETER GRABNER
I was first introduced to Mozart’s Fourth Violin Concerto when I was 15 years old. My father was the first concertmaster of the Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Kiev, and one day he brought home a recording of Yehudi Menuhin playing all five Mozart concertos.
It was an inspirational moment for me, hearing these masterpieces so well played, with Menuhin’s big, wonderful and nice sound. Later I was able to compare his interpretation with those by Soviet violinists, and I was amazed by the contrast – Menuhin’s had an elegance and softness to it, especially in the endings of the phrases, with a complete lack of aggression and pressure.