Nigel Kennedy

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Nigel Kennedy, Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2009

Nigel Kennedy (born December 28, 1956 in Brighton , England ) is a British violinist .

Career

Kennedy comes from a family of musicians. His father is a cellist, his mother a piano teacher. Kennedy began playing the violin at the age of six. After a year he received his first scholarship at the renowned Yehudi Menuhin School in London , where he was partly supervised by Menuhin personally.

At the age of 16 he went to the Juilliard School ; there he received his classical training in the class of Dorothy DeLay . At the same time, he was from the jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli in the jazz - improvisation introduced. In 1977 Kennedy made his concert debut with Mendelssohn 's Violin Concerto in E minor at London's Royal Festival Hall , accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Riccardo Muti .

From 1980 Kennedy appeared regularly with the Berliner Philharmoniker , and soon afterwards he played with almost all major orchestras and under all major conductors. Kennedy also gave regular concerts with smaller ensembles and various chamber music partners. In 1998 his arrangement with works by Jimi Hendrix was premiered and recorded for Sony. In addition, a duo tour and recording of works from Bach to Kodály with cellist Lynn Harrell took place in the spring of 1998 .

In 1999 he made a memorable appearance in Belgrade; as the first western artist after the war in Kosovo he played a sold out concert with works by Bach and Bartók .

In 2000 there was a major Bach tour through Germany with the Berlin Philharmonic Bach Collegium . The recording stayed in the German classical music charts for over a year.

For several years now, Nigel Kennedy has lived alternately in London, Malvern and Krakow . His Polish wife Agnieszka brought him into contact with Krakow artists and so initially a concert program was created with the Krakow Klezmer band Kroke and in 2003 also an album. In 2002 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Polish Chamber Orchestra , a position once held by his teacher and mentor, Yehudi Menuhin. He shares with Menuhin the criticism of the politics of the State of Israel. Since 2007 he has refused to perform in Israel. During a BBC concert with a Palestinian youth orchestra in 2013, he called for Palestinian musicians to be freed from the aftermath of apartheid.

In 2007, Nigel Kennedy published a CD with partly forgotten Polish violin concertos from the late Romantic period , for example by Emil Młynarski (1870–1935) and Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876–1909).

My World was released at the end of 2016 , Kennedy's first project with his own compositions, which is characterized by a variety of contemporary and experimental music concepts.

Music genre

“Anyone who wants to can call me a classical violinist; I see myself as a musician who simply plays music - and not just one type of music. "

- Nigel Kennedy

Nigel Kennedy is considered the enfant terrible of the classical music scene. In addition to Beethoven , Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach, his repertoire also includes Peter Gabriel , Jimi Hendrix and The Doors .

He became known not only for his extraordinary talent, but also for his demeanor. With a provocative punk hairstyle , he created an image for himself that caused scandals in the concert halls, but was also conducive to his popularity outside the typical concert audience. So he became the classic pop star of the 1980s.

After proving his skills in classical works, he was drawn to new shores. First he built jazz pieces into his concerts as encores. After concerts in the world's metropolises, he was always a guest in the most famous jazz clubs for nightly jam sessions .

In 1997 the band The Kennedy Experience was formed and he dedicated himself to the music of Jimi Hendrix . A crossover CD was released in 1999 .

Kennedy sees himself as a border crosser between different musical styles. He defies the well-worn rituals of the classical concert business and brings everyone together in his concerts, from young punk to rock fans. With the tour “Classic Meets Jazz” in 2003 he combined the classical music of Johann Sebastian Bach with the jazz works of Miles Davis .

In his 2016 album My World , he dedicates some of his pieces to mentors and sources of inspiration such as Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, Mark O'Connor and Jarek Smietana. In the line-up he combines classical elements (string orchestra) with other, rock influences and instruments (rock band).

Special successes

The recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons , released in 1989, is the best-selling classical album of all time. After over a year at number one on the British classical music charts and more than three million copies sold, it got an entry in the Guinness Book of Records .

The 2000 album Kennedy plays Bach was also a great success. It was in the German classical music charts for over a year, and the final concert of the following tour was broadcast live on the Internet. Nigel Kennedy was the first classical artist to release a Greatest Hits album in 2002 for his 25th concert anniversary . All concerts on this tour were sold out.

Awards

  • 1990: Rose von Montreux - Producer Award
  • 1991: Bambi
  • 1993: ECHO Pop : Classic (international)
  • 2000: ECHO Klassik : Instrumentalist of the year for his album Classic Kennedy
  • 2001: Classical BRIT Award - Male Artist of the Year
  • 2001: ECHO Klassik: Instrumentalist of the year
  • 2002: ECHO Klassik: Special Award Ambassador of Music
  • 2003: Baloise Session Award - Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2008: ECHO Klassik: Instrumentalist of the year for his album Polish Spirit

Discography

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT UK UK
1984 Elgar - Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 - - UK97 (1 week)
UK
1988 Bruch : Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor. Op. 26
/ Schubert : Rondo in A for violin and strings
/ Mendelssohn : Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
- - UK28 (15 weeks)
UK
Sibelius : Violin Concerto, Symphony No.5 - - UK-
gold
gold
UK
1989 Vivaldi : The Four Seasons DE-
gold
gold
DE
- UK3
Double platinum
× 2
Double platinum

(80 weeks)UK
with English Chamber Orchestra
1991 Brahms : Violin Concerto in D op.77 - - UK16
gold
gold

(12 weeks)UK
with London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Klaus Tennstedt
1992 Just Listen: Sibelius : Violin Concerto
/ Tchaikovsky : Violin Concerto
- - UK56 (1 week)
UK
with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
conductor: Sir Simon Rattle
/ with London Philharmonic Orchestra
conductor: Okko Kamu
Beethoven : Violin Concerto
/ JS Bach : Preludio from Partita No. 3, Allegro Assai from Sonata No. 3
DE63 (9 weeks)
DE
- UK40 (6 weeks)
UK
with NDR Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Klaus Tennstedt
1996 Kafka DE53 (10 weeks)
DE
AT48 (2 weeks)
AT
UK67 (2 weeks)
UK
1999 Classic Kennedy DE85 (4 weeks)
DE
- UK-
gold
gold
UK
with English Chamber Orchestra
2000 Kennedy plays Bach DE95 (2 weeks)
DE
- -
2002 Greatest hits - - UK71 (2 weeks)
UK
2003 East Meets East DE84 (6 weeks)
DE
- -
with Kroke tape
Vivaldi DE72 (5 weeks)
DE
- -
with the Berlin Philharmonic
2008 Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Op. 4
/ Mozart : Violin Concerto No. 4, KV 218
/ Horace Silver : Creepin 'In
- - UK99 (1 week)
UK
with Polish Chamber Orchestra

More albums

  • 1984: Nigel Kennedy Plays Jazz (Peter Pettinger)
  • 1984: Salut d'Amour & other Elgar Favorites (Peter Pettinger / Steven Isserlis)
  • 1986: Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major Op. 35 / Chausson : Poème for Violin and Orchestra (Okko Kamu - London Philharmonic Orchestra)
  • 1986: Bartók : Sonata for Solo Violin / Duke Ellington : Mainly Black (with Alec Dankworth )
  • 1987: Walton : Viola Concerto / Violin Concerto ( André Previn - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
  • 1987: Let Loose (Nick Robbins / Dave Heath / Dominic Miller)
  • 1993: Tschaikowski - Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 (Okko Kamu - London Philharmonic Orchestra), Variations On A Rococo Theme, Op.33 (Yan Pascal Tortelier - Northern Symphony Orchestra)
  • 1993: Music in Colors (with Stephen Duffy )
  • 1997: Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor op.61 / Williams : The Lark Ascending (Sir Simon Rattle - City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra)
  • 1998: Kreisler
  • 1999: The Kennedy Experience - Inspired by the music of Jimi Hendrix
  • 2000: Duos For Violin & Cello ( Lynn Harrell )
  • 2000: Riders On The Storm - The Doors Concerto ( Prague Symphony Orchestra )
  • 2004: Vivaldi II (Berliner Philharmoniker)
  • 2004: Great Artist of the Century: Walton: Violin / Viola Concerts ( André Previn - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra )
  • 2005: Inner thoughts
  • 2006: Kennedy plays Bach ( Irish Chamber Orchestra ) (DVD)
  • 2006: Great Recordings of the Century: Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor, Introduction and Allegro (Vernon Handley - London Philharmonic Orchestra)
  • 2006: Blue Note Sessions
  • 2006: Nigel Kennedy (Vivaldi: live À La Citadelle) (DVD)
  • 2006: DIE ZEIT: Classic Edition: Vol.9
  • 2007: Platinum Collection
  • 2007: Polish Spirit (DVD / CD)
  • 2008: A Very Nice Album ( Nigel Kennedy Quintet )
  • 2009: Four Seasons 20th Anniversary
  • 2010: Shhh!
  • 2010: The Very Best Of Nigel Kennedy
  • 2011: The Four Elements
  • 2012: Nigel Kennedy-Five-in-One
  • 2013: Recital
  • 2016: My World

Instruments

literature

  • Nigel Kennedy: Always Playing . New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992, ISBN 0-312-07234-1 (autobiography).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. M. Dysch, BBC to cut Kennedy slur from Proms broadcast (Jewish Chronicle Aug. 16, 2013)
  2. Violin Punk goes East. ( Spiegel online , November 14, 2007.)
  3. ^ My World. Information page at the publisher. www.neue-meister-music.com, accessed on January 12, 2017 .
  4. Florian Schär: Interview with Nigel Kennedy. classicpoint.net, December 2, 2016, accessed May 17, 2017 .
  5. Chart sources: DE AT UK1 UK2 UK3 UK4
  6. Music Sales Awards: DE UK