Fiddler on Fire

Manchester Confidiential previews Valeriy Sokolov’s appearance with Manchester Camerata on 13 March 2010:

Talented young violinist Valeriy Sokolov plays Beethoven at the Bridgewater Hall

When three venues book the same musician in as many months, it’s a sign that someone special has stepped on to the scene. 24-year-old violinist Valeriy Sokolov is being hailed by classical music critics as a prodigious new talent. He recently impressed audiences at the Royal Northern College of Music, and he’s now preparing to do the same at the Bridgewater Hall with Manchester Camerata, before going on to play with the Halle at the same venue in April. Valeriy was born in 1986 in Kharkov, Ukraine and began playing the violin when he was five. He was just 11-years-old when he appeared as a soloist with an orchestra for the first time, performing Vieuxtemps’ 5th Concerto. Nowadays he studies at the Royal College of Music in London.

Valeriy’s record company Virgin Classics released a DVD about him in 2006 called A Natural Born Fiddler. Its director Bruno Monsaingeon describes the first time he heard the young musician play:

“It was in Britain, in the spring of 2003, at the Yehudi Menuhin School, that I first had the opportunity to hear Valery Sokolov play. I had only just learned of his existence when he offered to play me the Ysaÿe Sonata. As he did so, not the slightest tension marred the impression he gave of total ease with his instrument, absolute control of technique, a musical maturity which made the fact that he was only 16 completely irrelevant, and above all, an utter abandonment to the flow of the music.”

To read more of the Manchester Confidential preview click here

For details of Valeriy Sokolov’s concert with Manchester Camerata and to book tickets click here