DVD Living the Dream

"This is 21st Century performing art at its consummate best. Maxim Vengerov, the violinist’s violinist, treats us to a medley of viola, electric violin and tango. A stunning performance on this must-see DVD."

  Classic fm

Jul 2007

Vengerov's formidable musical genius and commitment have brought him the highest musical prizes and a huge army of fans along the way. Living the Dream, which began filming November 2004, traces the hectic jet set life of the 30 year old master violinist, appearing in concert and recital across the globe. It takes us from his last concert at the end of 2004 in Istanbul, through his return to his childhood home in Novosibirsk in the depths of a Russian winter, to his premiere performance of a brand new commissioned concerto in Hannover. During this time he is working and preparing for the new concerto, composed by Benjamin Yusupov, which involves him playing viola, improvising rock on an electric violin, and dancing the Tango to the last movement. We see him having improvisation lessons from the jazz violinist Didier Lockwood, taking Tango lessons with Sebastian Misse and Andrea Reyero in Paris, devising the Tango choreography with his partner Christiane Palha in Amsterdam, and finally the performance to wild acclaim of the "Viola Tango Rock Concerto" with Eije Oue in Hannover. Maxim also reflects on how the experience of his sabbatical has impacted on his recording and interpretation of the Beethoven concerto with the LSO and Maestro Rostropovich.

This programme, and the accompanying concert from Moscow are full of dazzling virtuoso pieces by Paganini, Ysaye, Wienawski, Kreisler, Rachmaninov and more - before an ecstatic audience in Moscow's Conservatory.

This is a fascinating study of Vengerov at a crucial period in his life - capturing some stunning performance sequences, and revealing his thoughts and emotions as he seeks to change and control his life and broaden his challenges. It provides a uniquely intimate glimpse of a master talent at the peak of his powers, yet still in development, searching for new fields to explore and conquer.

"When you have accomplished your dream then immediately you feel that there is so much more in front of you. This is not a discovery for me, but this is, I think, a saviour.

If we didn’t have in this world such beautiful things like Tango, music, I think that life would be simply pointless.

In order for me to enjoy standard repertoire, I have to go beyond this and climb always higher mountains. And now for me this journey would be like climbing Everest. But then, after, I do hope I will see another mountain that is even higher, and even more beautiful, and then when I come back and I descend from this mountain I will see the standard repertoire that I usually play on the violin, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, I will see these works with different light, and play them even more beautifully."

Maxim Vengerov 2005