The selfish giant

Violin great Maxim Vengerov was a child prodigy in Siberia. Now, he is coming to NZ to play the instrument's greatest concerto.

- RICHARD BETTS

There's a fascinating moment in the music documentary Living the Dream. Mstislav Rostropovich, the 20th century's leading cellist, but here acting as a conductor, is rehearsing Beethoven's Violin Concerto in preparation for a recording.

"Unfortunately, you're being too selfish here," the old master, then in his late 70s, tells the guy with the fiddle, who is Maxim Vengerov, the documentary's subject. Vengerov isn't a kid; he's 30, and is already among the greats of his instrument. Was that the last time another musician called Vengerov selfish?

"I think so, yeah," smiles the violin superstar, who visits New Zealand this month to play the Sibelius concerto with the NZSO and Auckland Philharmonia. "But Rostropovich always found a way, without offending, to let me know clearly that I had such a long way to go."

It's a humble admission from a musician who, by the time he became internationally known in his late teens, had already won the Wieniawski and Carl Flesch competitions, and signed a contract with Teldec records.

Rostropovich died in 2007, but Vengerov still refers to the cellist's musical truths. I particularly liked this one: "Rostropovich always told me, 'Don't use the music to express your feelings, but use yourself to reinvent the composer.' These are subtle but very significant differences and approaches."

Born in Novosibirsk, Siberia, in 1974, like most great artists, Vengerov started early, and by age 6 was already gaining recognition.

"I never felt like a child prodigy," Vengerov says. "The environment I was raised in demanded a lot, even from kids. There were prodigious children all over the place." The first time he visited Moscow - "I was 6 or 7" - was for a competition, where he performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.