Maxim Vengerov - Living the Dream DVD

...portrait of the Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov - who is arguably one of the finest players on the concert circuit today. He's one of my favourite fiddlers, so I decided I really had to buy the DVD.

Maxim Vengerov - violinist:

There are a couple of good sites giving detailed information about Maxim's career to date, along with his concerts and recordings. You'll certainly not find much of this information in the insert ...
...http://www.maximvengerovfans.co.uk/

Maxim was born in 1974 in Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia and soon showed an aptitude for violin - starting lessons at age 4. He won his first major international competition at age 10 and his career took off from that point on, with award winning recordings, appearances with all the major world orchestras with repeated acclaim from critics and public alike. He's not only a great violinist on the modern ... more

Background:

Frequently when people find out that I work with top classical musicians, one of the first things they will ask me is: "What is so and so like?" Sometimes I can tell them how the person comes across in "normal life," usually/hopefully in a positive way. But once in a while, I'll have to share the tale of an "artist from hell" such as the famous wrong side of middle-age English soprano who was such a pain in the you know what, that I came precariously near to pouring a 2 litre bottle of Evian water - all she'd drink - over her perfectly coiffed hair and inch thick make-up...

However, often when you are dealing with a musician on a professional basis at a concert, unfortunately there is little time to get to know them apart from the usual polite conversation. So, one might suggest turning to one of the many DVDs that have sprung up in the past few years which profess to be a "portrait" of the artist in question. Almost inevitably produced by their record company, it more often than not just turns out to be a slick piece of meaningless PR schtick, serving primarily as an expensive promo for their upcoming recordings and leaving the genuine fan or classical music enthusiast disappointed and longing for something more substantial and full of insight.

So it was with some trepidation that I saw EMI had brought out a new DVD portrait of the Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov - who is arguably one of the finest players on the concert circuit today. He's one of my favourite fiddlers, so I decided I really had to buy the DVD.

Maxim Vengerov - violinist:

There are a couple of good sites giving detailed information about Maxim's career to date, along with his concerts and recordings. You'll certainly not find much of this information in the insert accompanying the DVD (much more on this later...) The first site is with EMI and so has a more official feel to it: http://www.emiclassics.com/artistbiography.php?aid=50 whilst the second is one of the best fan-sites around and is much more interesting in my opinion: http://www.maximvengerovfans.co.uk/

Maxim was born in 1974 in Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia and soon showed an aptitude for violin - starting lessons at age 4. He won his first major international competition at age 10 and his career took off from that point on, with award winning recordings, appearances with all the major world orchestras with repeated acclaim from critics and public alike. He's not only a great violinist on the modern violin - with a huge repertoire from Bach to Berg, but he also plays original baroque violin, the viola and has recently enjoyed success in his first experiments as a conductor - not to mention his work as an Ambassador for UNICEF and his teaching activities. He plays an absolutely amazing Stradivarius called the Kreutzer dating from 1727. Last but not least, he's a very approachable chap whom I've chatted to on several occasions and who ALWAYS has time for his numerous fans around the world.

The DVD blurb:

In 2004 Maxim Vengerov was 30 years old and decided to undertake a sabbatical year of self-discovery: revisiting his roots in Siberia; recording the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and his mentor the late Mstislav Rostropovich and commissioning a rather "way out" concerto from Benjamin Yusupov where he not only has to play the viola and the electric violin in a mix of classical with rock and roll and jazz idioms, but he also has to dance a tango! In preparation for this he studies with the legendary French jazz violinist Didier Lockwood. The blurb ends saying that this is a portrait of a "restless master talent, at the height of his powers but still in development, searching for new dreams to come." The DVD was produced, directed and filmed by Ken Howard and lasts for approximately 71 minutes.

DVD content:

This is where EMI start to fall down. In the simple, disappointing and basically totally inadequate 2 side insert "brochure" to the DVD, only a 1/3rd of which is in English, there is merely a brief elaboration of the blurb above and no track listing or other detailed run-through of the actual contents of the disc. Big mistake because one surely needs to know what music is being played and so on away from the actual tv screen itself. So one turns to the menu on-screen, and one is horrified to find that things are no better there. The menu merely offers choice of language sub-titles and "play" of the main programme, plus mention of the one extra - albeit brilliant - on the DVD (more on that later...)

So, in order to provide a decent insight into the actual content of the DVD - you have to watch it all the way through. No problem, but if you're like me, you sometimes want to drop in at a particular point in a DVD or skip a section and so on. Yes, there are tracking points on the DVD but no listing for them... That's pretty well impossible here unless you fast-forward. Not good, not good at all and it doesn't compare well to similar products in this genre.

Anyway - to give a brief summary of the contents...
Throughout the DVD extracts are played from the following pieces:

Scherzo Tarantella, Op.16 by Wieniawski
Violin Concerto - Beethoven (with London Symphony Orchestra and Rostropovich as conductor, recording session at Abbey Road)
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini - Rachmaninov arr. Kreisler
Vocalise - Rachmaninov
La Ronde des Lutines - totally utterly crazy virtuoso piece by Bazzini, great stuff!
Meditation from Thais - Massenet
Ave Maria - Caccini (played with his dad, an oboist)
Viola Tango Rock Concerto - Yusupov (seriously cool piece!)

But the main emphasis on this DVD is Maxim Vengerov himself. We start with a touching section covering the work he did with the late Rostropovich in preparation for the Beethoven Violin concerto recordings. Maxim's respect for his elder mentor is unmistakeable and it is revealing to watch them working together in what was to be their last collaboration.
There is plenty of insight into the jet-set life of an international musician in this DVD as in the lead up to his sabbatical Maxim jets from London to Russia. The best thing about this DVD is how it allows Maxim to talk for himself, rather than have an actual interviewer. On the trip to Russia, it is obvious how much his homeland means to him, as he visits his home city of Novosibirsk and one gets to know his family and see him in a totally non-musical atmosphere. Suddenly one sees the real person behind the record company PR glitz, and it's a nice normal guy - who plays in the snow with his family, and says how the sound of a snowball "squeaking" in his hands is one of his memories of Russia and childhood. Rather humbling to see the shabby towerblock where he grew up and have him remember having to play with gloves on because the heating was out and his mother saying that at aged 5 his first teacher already said he would become a world star!

While he is in Russia he demonstrates the other side of his profession - that of teaching. Perhaps one of the nicest parts of the DVD shows him working with a virtuosic young lad aged around 7 or 8 and him using the most wonderful imagery to get across how he wants the piece to sound. It is funny and moving at the same time as you sense two musicians across the generation gap "clicking" as they work on the piece. Maxim's imagery is basic, yet it makes a point so well and he has everyone laughing while at the same time improving the young lad's already amazing performance.

Interestingly one gets a fascinating perspective into the somewhat narrow road of a classical virtuoso's life as Maxim starts his sabbatical. He says poignantly how strange it is not to be jumping on another plane somewhere, or having a concert or rehearsal that evening...! As he starts to study jazz violin he realises that HIS way of playing is so disciplined that he has to learn all over again how to be "free" in order to improvise successfully. Quite a revelation for him obviously and he talks about how this new ability will help him when he returns to classical playing after his sabbatical.

Maxim is honest about his attitude towards music and one has to gasp at the revelation that at the age of 15 he really wondered if he wanted to make it his career! Music just flows out of the guy - how could he have that kind of doubt.... this leads nicely into the preparation for the Viola Rock Tango concerto which will provide an interested viewer a great insight into how an artist prepares a brand new piece - the work and total commitment involved. It's great to watch Maxim learn to tango - with a succession of stunning female partners including his current girlfriend Christiane Pahla, with whom he performs the premiere of the piece in Hannover. Excerpts from the piece will definitely whet the appetite for more from classical, rock and roll and tango fans alike.

What strikes me the most from this DVD is how much of a view it gives into the personal side of Maxim, much deeper than one would normally expect from such a "portrait." For example one sees him working out to get fit for his premiere, and then wondering if he has taken on too much as there is so little time to prepare - that such a virtuoso can still have these pangs of self-doubt is great comfort to semi-pro fiddlers such as myself! I love the way in which Maxim just talks to camera, no intrusive interviewers - you really feel for most of this DVD that you are a fly on the wall of his life, and that makes it all the more appealing to me. Not to mention the absolutely fantastic quality of violin playing. One has to take a step back and realise that Maxim Vengerov is still only in his 30s. As he says - he hopes that exploring other realms of music will enable him to reach even higher when he returns to his more familiar repertoire such as Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and the like. It is a mature attitude which could apply to many professions - perhaps we should try to look wider than our often narrow career paths? He is living his dream - maybe he will inspire us to live ours?

The sound on this DVD is excellent though it isn't Dolby processed. Visual quality is also top-rate and production values of the programme itself cannot be faulted. There are subtitles in French and German along with one very generous DVD extra, which is a complete performance of Wieniawski's "Variations on an Original Theme" Op. 15, which is a total showcase for virtuoso violin acrobatics and - of course - is brilliantly played. A must to watch and listen to if you are a classical fan and/or love great violin playing!

Conclusion:

Whilst the programme itself is beautifully made, providing a deep and meaningful insight into the life of this fantastic young violinist, EMI have sadly let the whole thing down by providing a shabby accompanying package to this DVD which is not worthy at all of their star artist. Considering that Maxim has been with the company for quite a few years - why not more photos of him in the brochure? Why no decent biography in the brochure? Why not some still photos as another extra on the DVD? Why no details about his violin on the DVD brochure? Why such a truncated and brief article in the brochure? Why no discography so interested new fans can go out and experience his wonderful playing some more? Why no decent track listing either in the brochure or on the DVD on-screen menu itself?

I think this is symptomatic in the decline in EMI's classical department in recent years. I find it rather sad - especially when such a great artist deserves much better. This is a FANTASTIC DVD which goes totally against the grain of anodyne artist "portraits" so I want to give the whole package 4 stars with the caveat that EMI don't really deserve them, but Maxim on his own deserves 5 stars...

Highly recommended - but read up on his websites before watching!

Copyright - Maestrolover 2008 

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