Research has begun on my list of top 20 violinists for Sinfini Music. Now I’m not a big fan of definitive lists of anything, as I once wrote in this blog when I was at The Strad. But I’m not pretending that this is a definitive list of the best violinists ever, because that would be untrue and stupid.
It is, however, a list of players I consider special, whose playing has touched me in some way. And it does give a lovely chance to sit down and listen to some of the players I know I’ve liked in the past, to really understand why, and to see if my feelings hold up to scrutiny. Nice work if you can get it!
So far I’ve made a few sub-categories – dead, old and young. I could probably fill the entire 20 with players of the first category, but I think that would be churlish and short-sighted, and I want to have some spread. My main criterion is that the players have their own distinctive voice, and I’m not so nostalgic as to believe there are no such young players today.
I’ve also made definite and maybe categories, and I’m currently focused on my maybes, going through Spotify. I’ll share my progress on this blog, and on my Spotify playlist. Today’s maybes are Szeryng and Neveu, so I’m off to listen to them. As for definites, I'm not going to miss out this chap, am I?
Any advice?