Maxim Vengerov Photo: Davide Cerati
Maxim Vengerov is on a busy schedule. Between rehearsing at the Michael Fowler Centre and giving a masterclass at the same venue, he's nipped up to RNZ's Wellington studios on The Terrace to talk with radio host Bryan Crump.
Not that there's any sign of ill temper over squeezing an interview between his core commitments.
"Well first of all, thanks for having me. This is a pleasure to be here in New Zealand."
Maxim Vengerov Photo: Davide Cerati
But then Vengerov has been performing since he was five, so he probably knows a thing or two about pacing himself.
His career might well have ended at the age of five. Born in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk in what was then the Soviet Union, Vengerov displayed prodigious talent from a very young age.
His musician parents - his father played in the local symphony orchestra, his mother was a choir conductor - sought the best violin teacher they could find: the legendary task-mistress Galina Turchaninova.
Things did not get off to a good start. Turchaninova wanted to know how strong the child's hands were. The young Vengerov punched her in the stomach. She demanded he practise. He refused.
Turchaninova reckoned there wasn't much point in continuing. It was only when Vengerov's mother burst into tears that Vengerov relented and began to play for his teacher.
There were other factors. The young Vengerov eventually figured practicing eight hours a day indoors was better than being outside in the Siberian cold. He also recognised reaching his potential was a ticket to travelling beyond Novosibirsk.
Practising eight hours a day is not so bad when it's cold outside. Photo: K Aptem
These days, Vengerov lives in Monaco with his partner and three children and is regarded as one of the best classical violinists around.
Is he a stern teacher like Turchaninova was to him? Those who saw Vengerov's masterclass at Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre say he is anything but.
Perhaps that's because he doesn't really have to tell good students anything - he just shows them.
What Vengerov does tell his students is this:
"You have to feel the unity with the instrument. The bow has to be a natural extension of the arm, right hand, and violin extension of our soul. It is next to the heart, so the violin is the connection between hands, heart and music and audience."
And that connection takes time to create. When Vengerov first picked up a Stradivarius violin, he expected it would make him instantly sound better.
Instead, he sounded terrible.
Perhaps playing a great violin is a bit like learning to ride a stallion? Vengerov prefers the analogy of a Formula 1 racing driver fine-tuning their vehicle, making tiny adjustments in response to the way the car feels, moves and sounds.
Learning to play one of these is a bit like fine tuning a F1 racing car. Photo: Alexei Danichev / Sputnik
Vengerov is in New Zealand to perform the violin concerto by Sibelius, first with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, then the Auckland Philharmonia.
There's also another masterclass coming up in Auckland.
He's happy to be travelling the world and living in a Mediterranean climate, but he still has close ties with his home city. Novosibirsk might be cold, but it's full of warm people.
Crump asks if his children are musical. His daughters, "yes", his two-year-old son? He's not so sure yet, not that it matters.
There's a YouTube video of Vengerov playing with his daughter Lisa accompanying on piano.
You can see the love and pride in his eyes, you can also see how his eyebrows move as he plays.
Crump wants to know why: what difference do his eyebrows make to the sound of his instrument?
Nothing, he replies, except it's just a natural part of communicating. His eyebrows do the same when he's talking.
"Some people speak with poker faces? Well I don't!"
In other words, it's that unity of body, mind, soul, and violin Vengerov is talking about. He plays the violin as though he was born playing it, and in his case, that's almost true.
