"People can say I'm a classical violinist if they want to but I've always viewed myself as a musician who plays music and not just a certain part of it".
For nearly twenty years, Kennedy has been acknowledged as one of the world's leading violin virtuosos whose unique talent has brought fresh perspectives and a quantum energy to both the classical and contemporary repertoire. Kennedy studied originally at the Sir Yehudi Menuhin School in England before moving on to the internationally renowned Juilliard School of Music in New York to study under Dorothy DeLay while his London concert debut came playing the Mendelssohn Violin concerto with The Philharmonia under Riccardo Muti at the Royal Festival Hall.
Kennedy's subsequent, multi-award-winning discography includes the Elgar (which he has now recorded twice - with the RPO & Vernon Handley and more recently with the CBSO & Simon Rattle), Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Bruch and Sibelius concertos; Vivaldi's The Four Seasons - which earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the biggest selling classical records of all time; his newest recording devoted to the works of the great violinist Fritz Kreisler as well as a disc of his own compositions, Kafka.
Following a lengthy sabbatical, Kennedy dislodged the UK General Election from national newspaper front pages on his return to the international concert platform when he performed in London during April '97; The Times reviewer stating, "Only one British violinist in my lifetime has produced anything as bold and exhilarating as that." It is his playing, though, that most reveals Kennedy's new maturity. No other violinist on earth could manage the astonishing stylistic transition presented.
Indeed, throughout the year, Kennedy toured extensively: in Germany, where his Hendrix: Concerto in Suite Form was premiered in Cologne; playing the Elgar Violin Concerto in Ireland, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Denmark and Poland prior to headlining at EMI's Centenary Concert in Birmingham; The Daily Telegraph's reviewer reporting, "Here was a reminder that Kennedy is a violinist in a million." He followed this performance by re-recording the Elgar alongside Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending with Sir Simon Rattle and the CBSO. The album was released at the end of '97 about which The Telegraph stated, "the unaccompanied cadenza in the finale has a greater spine-tingling eeriness than I have ever experienced before and the closing bars unleash a quite shattering intensity." To coincide with its release, Kennedy performed in London again under Sir Roger Norrington before ending the year touring Britain and Austria with the ECO performing the Bach Double and Beethoven Violin Concerti.
Kennedy will continue to present and record varied programmes, juxtaposing distinct yet intertwined strands of music. This Spring he releases one of his most important recordings to date: a new album of works by the celebrated violinist / composer & arranger Fritz Kreisler and will present that album in recital during his Viennese debut in April. In Vienna - on the same day and directly after that concert - he will debut his new arrangement (for wind quartet & quartet) of his Hendrix: Concerto in Suite Form.
This Spring, Kennedy also plays a series of duo concerts with the world's leading 'cellist Lynn Harrell - a programme that incorporates Bach, Ravel & Kodaly. Kennedy & Harrell will record together directly after they play at London's Royal Festival Hall.
Further dates already confirmed in a year that looks to be busier than any before, include working with the ESO, playing the Beethoven with the RPO at the Llangollen Festival; specially arranged works for violin & orchestra which will form the basis for a new album (with the working title of Klassic Kennedy) which will be recorded this summer; the Hendrix: Concerto in Suite Form which Kennedy will also record during the summer. Kennedy will also undertake his first major American tour in over five years throughout October and November - dates which incorporate the Brahms & Elgar concerti as well as a series of Bartok, Hendrix & Bach recitals for quartet and wind quartet. The year will close with Kennedy playing the Brahms under Norrington with the Berlin Philharmonic.
March 1998
