‘You can never second-guess Batiashvili, and that in part is what makes her so perpetually fascinating as a musician...’

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Listen to our podcast: Lisa Batiashvili on recording Prokofiev

Nicola Benedetti (b1987)

Elgar Violin Concerto

Nicola Benedetti vn London Philharmonic Orchestra / Vladimir Jurowski (Decca)

‘Although other digital versions (Ehnes, Hahn, Znaider, Kennedy etc) have also moved me, none that I can recall has made me more keenly aware of just what a great work this is...’

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Listen to our podcast: Nicola Benedetti on Baroque Music, education and Edinburgh

Renaud Capuçon (b1976)

Elgar Violin Concerto. Violin Sonata

Renaud Capuçon vn Stephen Hough pf London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle (Erato)

‘Capuçon’s interpretation is undoubtedly an exceptional one in its affection and sympathy for the long, plangent lines of Elgar’s score...’

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See also: Renaud Capuçon interview – ‘It’s not about legacy – I know that the day I die there will be just a few lines in a French newspaper and that’s it, I’m gone’

Kyung Wha Chung (b1948)

Born into a highly musical family (her brother Myung Whun is a pianist and conductor; her sister Myung Wha a cellist) Chung’s prodigious talent made her a child star in her native Korea. She moved to New York, aged 13, and studied at Juilliard with Ivan Galamian. In 1968 her success in the Edgar Leventritt Competition (placed joint first with Pinchas Zukerman) led to debuts with the Chicago Symphony and New York Philharmonic. The 1960s and ’70s saw her record the core repertoire for Decca, leaving numerous classic versions. She would later record for EMI, returning to the label (now Warner Classics) with a disc of solo Bach following a 13-year hiatus caused by an injury.

Respighi. R Strauss Violin Sonatas

Kyung Wha Chung vn Krystian Zimerman pf (DG)

'Chung brings so much more to the Strauss, and she has such an outstandingly poetic pianist, that hers is the performance I would most readily live with...'

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See also: Top 10 violin concertos

James Ehnes (b1976)

Beethoven Violin Sonatas Nos 7 & 10 

James Ehnes vn Andrew Armstrong pf (Onyx)

‘The conversation is spontaneous, the storytelling is packed with character, and both sonatas are played with an alertness that might feel impatient if it wasn’t so affectionate...’

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Listen to our podcast: James Ehnes on his string quartet and recording late Beethoven

Isabelle Faust (b1972)

Mozart Complete Violin Concertos

Isabelle Faust vn Il Giardino Armonico / Giovanni Antonini (Harmonia Mundi)

‘For period instruments, period sensibility and state-of-the-art engineering, you may find yourself hard-pressed to better this thought-provoking and eminently enjoyable cycle...’

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Listen to our podcast: Isabelle Faust on Bach's Violin Concertos

Arthur Grumiaux (1921-86)

Arthur Grumiaux studied the violin in Brussels and composition in Paris (with Enescu), and went on to represent the Belgian tradition established by Ysaÿe. Known for his consistently beautiful tone and flawless intonation, he is most closely associated with the Beethoven and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos. In 2004, Edward Greenfield wrote of Grumiaux that he was ‘a master virtuoso who consistently refused to make a show of his technical prowess’.

Bach Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin

Arthur Grumiaux (Decca)

Recorded in Berlin between November 1960 and March 1961, Grumiaux’s performances of the Sonatas and Partitas were instantly recognised as benchmarks for interpretations on a violin with modern set-up. The Gavotte en Rondeaux from the Partita in E was track 14 on the first of the two Golden Records carried on both 1977 Voyager spacecraft as samples of Earth’s culture.

Ida Haendel (1928-2020)

‘Baroque Transcriptions’

Ida Haendel vn Geoffrey Parsons pf (Testament)

‘Turn then to ‘Baroque Transcriptions’ and you have what in my view is a genuinely great fiddle record‚ one to place alongside those in which Heifetz‚ Szigeti or Elman (to name but three) tackle similar repertoire...’

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Hilary Hahn (b1979)

‘Paris’

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Listen to our podcast: Hilary Hahn on recording Bach

Jascha Heifetz (1901-87)

The Russian-born Heifetz’s American debut in 1917 was a red letter day, attended by the crème de la crème of New York’s music world. He stayed in the States and with his amazing technique, intense vibrato and characteristic portamento assumed the role, in many people’s opinion, of the greatest violinist of all time. He left a vast discography for RCA including a number of recordings with cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and pianist Arthur Rubinstein.

Beethoven & Brahms Violin Concertos

Jascha Heifetz vn NBC Symphony Orchestra; Boston Symphony Orchestra / Arturo Toscanini; Serge Koussevitzky (Naxos)

‘The performance itself is one of the most remarkable the gramophone has ever given us. The visionary, high tessitura violin writing is realised by Heifetz with a technical surety which is indistinguishable, in the final analysis, from his sense of the work as one of Beethoven's most sublime explorations of that world (in Schiller's phrase) 'above the stars where He must dwell'. Those who would query the 'depth' of Heifetz's reading miss this point entirely. To adapt Oscar Wilde, it is they who are in the gutter, Heifetz who is looking at the stars...’

Video: 20 great violinists in 25 minutes!

Alina Ibragimova (b1985)

Shostakovich Violin Concertos

Alina Ibragimova vn State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov' / Vladimir Jurowski (Hyperion)

‘First off, Ibragimova’s playing has an unvarnished truth about it. It’s the kind of playing that looks you unblinkingly in the eye and tells it like it is...’

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Janine Jansen (b1978)

Brahms & Bartók Violin Concertos

Janine Jansen vn Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, London Symphony Orchestra / Antonio Pappano (Decca)

‘Janine Jansen gives us a lyric reading of rare inwardness and beauty. Such is the tenderness of her playing and the fineness with which she delineates solo lines over which Brahms has strewn words such as lusingando and leggiero ed espressivo (grazioso), you might think her performance too much resembles Keats’s ‘still unravished bride of quietness...’

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Leonidas Kavakos (b1967)

Sibelius Violin Concerto

Leonidas Kavakos vn Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Osmo Vänskä (BIS)

‘Listening to Sibelius's first thoughts played with great virtuosity and excellent taste by Leonidas Kavakos and the excellent Lahti orchestra is an absorbing experience...’

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Listen to our podcast: Leonidas Kavakos on Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin

Nigel Kennedy (b1956)

Elgar Violin Concerto

Nigel Kennedy vn London Philharmonic Orchestra / Vernon Handley (Warner Classics)

‘For Kennedy this record presents a landmark, plainly establishing – just as his sonata record did – how naturally and richly his expressiveness blossoms under the taxing conditions of the studio...’

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Leonid Kogan (1924-82)

Beethoven String Trios

Recorded live at the concert of the 15th Prague Spring International Music Festival at the Rudolfinum, June 2, 1960

Leonid Kogan vn Rudolf Barshai va Mstislav Rostropovich vc (Supraphon)

‘An asset to this set is the violinist himself, Leonid Kogan, whose tone is searing in its intensity...’

Patricia Kopatchinskaja (b1977)

Bartók, Eötvös & Ligeti Violin Concertos

Patricia Kopatchinskaja vn Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern / Peter Eötvös (Naive)

‘Kopatchinskaja’s violin comes close to disintegrating under the force of her spectacular display and the final orchestral cut-off has never seemed more brutal...’

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See also: COVID and the performing artist, a blog by Patricia Kopatchinskaja

Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)

Born in Austria, Fritz Kreisler entered the Vienna Conservatory at the age of seven, where he studied violin and theory (the latter under Bruckner); he later studied composition with Delibes in Paris. In 1910, he premiered Elgar’s Violin Concerto, composed for him, and he continued to give concerts until 1950, nine years after a near-fatal road accident in New York (where he eventually settled). He was renowned for his brilliant technique and burnished tone.

Kreisler Original Compositions & Arrangements

Fritz Kreisler vn (Warner Classics)

In this well-chosen selection of Kreisler playing his own pieces and arrangements, the performances are as magical as ever and the original sound quality is very well brought out in the excellent transfers.

Yehudi Menuhin (1916-99)

A child prodigy who recorded Elgar’s Violin Concerto as a 16-year-old, Yehudi Menuhin became one of the 20th-century’s finest and best-loved musicians. He gave numerous premieres of works written for him as well as performed and recorded the major concerto and chamber repertoire. He took up conducting in the 1960s and also founded a music school that gave many young musicians a unique education.

Beethoven & Mendelssohn Violin Concertos

Yehudi Menuhin vn Philharmonia Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Wilhelm Furtwängler (Warner Classics)

‘Menuhin's response, profound and rich in recreative imagination, shows the two great artists in perfect accord...’

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See also: When Julian Lloyd Webber met Yehudi Menuhin

Nathan Milstein (1904-92)

Born in Odessa, Nathan Milstein studied with Leopold Auer in St Petersburg and, after the Russian Revolution of 1917, garnered support from the composer Alexander Glazunov and formed friendships with Horowitz and Piatigorsky. He toured Europe with Horowitz in 1925, and in the 1930s began a recording career that spanned six decades.

JS Bach Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin

Nathan Milstein vn (DG)

Milstein's special virtues are those of commanding technique: never is a note out of true in pitch or in rhythm.

Anne-Sophie Mutter (b1963)

Since Anne-Sophie Mutter was discovered by Karajan at the age of 13, her career hasn’t looked back. She has dedicated herself equally to the major violin repertoire and to commissioning composers to write new violin music.

Previn Violin Concerto

Anne-Sophie Mutter vn Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra / André Previn (DG)

‘Mutter’s performance is simply miraculous. She dances nimbly through the thorniest passages and gives a silky sheen to even the most stratospherically placed notes...’

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Listen to our podcast: John Williams on writing a new violin concerto for Anne-Sophie Mutter

Ginette Neveu (1919-49)

Brahms & Sibelius Violin Concertos

Ginette Neveu vn Philharmonia Orchestra / Issay Dobrowen, Walter Susskind (Warner Classics)

‘This is, without any doubt, a great performance – a performance so incandescent that at the end I felt like bursting into flames myself!...’ (Alec Robertson, Gramophone, January 1946)

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David Oistrakh (1908-74)

A child prodigy, David Oistrakh was one of the greatest violinists of the last century, and his repertoire included many works by his friends, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, as well as the ‘core’ concerto works. His rock-solid technique, impeccable intonation and distinguished musicianship won him a huge following.

Shostakovich Violin Concerto No 1

David Oistrakh vn New York Philharmonic Orchestra / Dimitri Mitropoulos (Sony)

‘Never for one moment does Oistrakh lose that effortlessness which is a hallmark of his mastery. His playing here is magnificent...’ (Lionel Salter, Gramophone, July 1956)

See also: Classic interview – David Oistrakh

Rachel Podger (b1968)

Vivaldi L'estro armonico

Rachel Podger vn Brecon Baroque

‘There is probably no more inspirational musician working today than Podger, in whose company surely no violinist’s bow could sleep in the hand. She certainly had me reaching for my air-violin...’

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Watch: Video interview with violinist Rachel Podger

Itzhak Perlman (b1945)

Since his debut in 1963, Itzhak Perlman has occupied a place as one of the greatest violinists of his day, a player with a remarkable technique and a sweet, elegant tone. He has recorded all the major concertos in the repertoire, as well as much chamber music (often in the company of Daniel Barenboim). His EMI disc of the Beethoven Violin Concerto took a Gramophone Award in 1981. Itzhak Perlman won Gramophone's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

Beethoven Violin Concerto

Itzhak Perlman vn Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Daniel Barenboim (Warner Classics)

‘Next to it even the fine studio performance he did with Giulini, one of the most spacious and rapt ever recorded, sounds just a little square by comparison, though many will prefer Giulini's simpler, less moulded manner in the accompaniment...’

Read the original Gramophone review

Watch: Itzhak Perlman receives Gramophone's Lifetime Achievement Award

Isaac Stern (1920-2001)

Bartók Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2

Isaac Stern vn The Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra / Eugene Ormandy, Leonard Bernstein (Sony)

‘Stern championed Bartók from the start and his performance of the Second Concerto has both breadth and cogency, displaying his good understanding with Bernstein. He gave the US premiere of the rediscovered early concerto and was the first to record it: the Hungarian Ormandy is also in his element here.’ (Tully Potter, Gramophone, December 2020)

Henryk Szeryng (1918-88)

Henryk Szeryng - Live in USA

Henryk Szeryng vn (Rhine Classics)

‘Szeryng was a class act. Rhine Classics’ beautiful disc opens to two significant items where Szeryng is sensitively supported in 1971 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas: Chausson’s Poème; and Paganini’s Third Concerto, which the violinist recorded during the same year (the work’s premiere on disc, in fact) with the LSO conducted by Alexander Gibson (Philips/Decca, 12/71). The unique quality of this particular performance is the way it conjures the music’s affinity with the world of operetta, bubbly but openly sentimental, too.’ (Rob Cowan, Gramophone, December 2021)

Joseph Szigeti (1892-1973)

Beethoven Violin Sonatas

Joseph Szigeti vn Claudio Arrau pf

'The pianist is Claudio Arrau and, although the sound is constricted and occasionally distorted, the performances are positively loaded with insights (for example the subtle shifts in tempo between first and second subjects near the start of Op 23). Szigeti wasn't always on form during this period but he certainly is here.' (Rob Cowan, Gramophone, July 2005)

Christian Tetzlaff (b1966)

Bartók Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2

Christian Tetzlaff vn Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Hannu Lintu (Ondine)

'Tetzlaff’s account of the First Concerto elevates this work to a whole new level of musical excellence, so much so that I’m inclined to place his expertly recorded CD of the two concertos ahead of all rival versions...' 

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See also: Christian Tetzlaff interview – ‘I think Sibelius did for his century what Beethoven did for his’

Maxim Vengerov (b1974)

Prokofiev & Shostakovich Violin Concertos No 1

Maxim Vengerov vn London Symphony Orchestra / Mstislav Rostropovich (Teldec)

'He achieves a nobility and poise worlds away from the superficial accomplishment of most modern rivals...'

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Frank Peter Zimmermann (b1965)

Martinů Violin Concertos Nos 1&2 Bartók Sonata for Solo Violin

Frank Peter Zimmermann vn Bamberger Symphoniker / Jakub Hruša (BIS)

'This is, for me, the top recommendation for these two works and, frankly, is how Martinů should always be played...'

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See also: Frank Peter Zimmermann interview – ‘I’d never made enough time to go into this world of solo Bach… In lockdown, I jumped into the ice-cold water!’