Gidon Kremer

Kremer’s ever-present curiosity and highly sensitive resistance to the established is also evident in his uncompromising choice of works for his concerts. He challenges his audiences with uncomfortable programmes that consistently include contemporary works as well as unknown or neglected pieces from the peripheries of the historical repertoire. And should the familiar occasionally emerge in this environment, it can be taken for granted that ingrained listening expectations will be pushed into the background in favour of new, coherent interpretive concepts. This was Kremer’s strategy from the start, and not just after his so-called market value and established reputation allowed him the luxury of imposing his own ideas on promoters and audiences.
“My guiding vision and ideal was the violin: it was on the violin that I learned over time to transform my loneliness, my dreams, my injuries and my humour into music. It was on the violin that I sought my sound, my voice, my music.” (From Gidon Kremer: Kindheitssplitter. Munich. 1993)