Sibelius: Violin Concertos (with Sinding - Suite for Violin & Orchestra)

"Itzhak Perlman plays the work as a full blooded virtuoso showpiece and the Pittsburgh orchestra under Andre Previn support him to the last man and woman. He makes light of all the fiendish difficulties in which the solo part abounds and takes a conventional view of the slow movement, underlining its passion, and gives an exhilarating finale. The sound is marvellously alive and thrilling."
(*** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide)

Born in Israel in 1945, Itzhak Perlman completed his initial training at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. He came to New York and soon was propelled into the international arena with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. Following his studies at the Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian and Dorothy DeLay, Mr. Perlman won the prestigious Leventritt Competition in 1964, which led to a burgeoning worldwide career. Since then, Mr. Perlman has appeared with every major orchestra and in recitals around the world.

During the past several years Mr. Perlman has also appeared on the conductor's podium, and through this medium he is further delighting his audiences. He has performed as conductor with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, National Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Toronto, as well as at the Ravinia and OK Mozart festivals. In January 2000 he was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony. In July 2002 Mr. Perlman was appointed Music Advisor of the St. Louis Symphony through the 2003/2004 season. In addition to performances this season in Detroit and St. Louis, Mr. Perlman will conduct the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Toronto, and National symphonies.

Internationally, Mr. Perlman has expanded his career as soloist to include conducting engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic. As soloist, Mr. Perlman continues to delight audiences in major centers throughout the world. During the 2001-02 season, he appeared as soloist/conductor with the Utah Symphony at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. He also participated in the gala opening of Philadelphia's Verizon Hall, with Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma performing Beethoven's Triple Concerto. He closed out the season with a tour of Asia that brought him to ecstatic audiences in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Taipei.

Mr. Perlman has a long association with the Israel Philharmonic, and he has participated in many groundbreaking tours with this orchestra from his homeland. In November of 1987 he joined the IPO for history-making concerts in Warsaw and Budapest, representing the first performances by this orchestra and soloist in Eastern bloc countries. He again made history as he joined the orchestra for its first visit to the Soviet Union in April/May of 1990, and was cheered by audiences in Moscow and Leningrad who thronged to hear his recital and orchestral performances. In December of 1994 he joined the Israel Philharmonic for their first visits to China and India.

Itzhak Perlman's extensive repertoire is well represented on EMI Classics. The great violin concertos form the core of his recorded repertoire, which ranges from the baroque to the contemporary. His recorded repertoire for EMI Classics includes violin concertos by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Dvorák, Glazunov, Goldmark, Khachaturian, Korngold, Mendelssohn, Paganini, Prokofiev, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi. Mr. Perlman's chamber music recordings include Beethoven Piano Trios with Vladimir Ashkenazy and Lynn Harrell; Beethoven String Trios with Pinchas Zukerman and Lynn Harrell; Brahms Violin Sonatas with Vladimir Ashkenazy; Dvorák's Sonatina and Smetana's From my Homeland with Samuel Sanders; the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio with Vladimir Ashkenazy and Lynn Harrell and a solo disc of the Paganini Caprices. Popular repertoire includes Tradition, a collection of Jewish melodies; Together, a programme of duets with Placido Domingo, issued as a tribute to Fritz Kreisler and John McCormack; Rag-Time Music accompanied by André Previn and a disc entitled My Favourite Kreisler with Samuel Sanders.