The 20 Greatest Violinists… how the musicians voted

The 20 Greatest Violinists… how the musicians voted

There are no contents matching the filter criteria.
Published: November 7, 2023 at 6:36 pm

We hope you enjoyed reading our article on the 20 greatest violinists of all time.

But who were the violinists that took part in our poll? And whom did they each nominate?

Well, we asked 100 of today’s leading soloists, chamber music players, orchestra leaders and a number of violists to nominate their three favourite violinists. You can find a full list of how the musicians voted below. Violists are marked with a ‘V’, while for those best known for their ensemble work, we have named the group in question.

Michael Barenboim
Adolf Busch
Fritz Kreisler
Nathan Milstein

Rachel Barton Pine
Itzhak Perlman
Sigiswald Kuijken
Maud Powell

Yuri Bashmet (V)
William Primrose (V)
Vadim Borisovsky (V)
Fyodor Druzhinin (V)

Lisa Batiashvili
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Jascha Heifetz
Leonidas Kavakos

Corina Belcea (Belcea Quartet)
Arthur Grumiaux
Joseph Silverstein
Ivry Gitlis

Joshua Bell
Jascha Heifetz
Fritz Kreisler
Josef Gingold

Nicola Benedetti
Yehudi Menuhin
Nathan Milstein
David Oistrakh

Pavlo Beznosiuk
Jascha Heifetz
Josef Roisman
Gidon Kremer

Fabio Biondi
David Oistrakh
Gidon Kremer
Reinhard Goebel

Marat Bisengaliev
Váša Příhoda
David Oistrakh

Stephen Bryant (BBC SO)
Jascha Heifetz
Albert Sammons
Hugh Bean

Renaud Capuçon
Christian Ferras
Nathan Milstein
Isaac Stern

Sarah Chang
David Oistrakh
Jascha Heifetz
Michael Rabin

Ray Chen
Jascha Heifetz
David Oistrakh
Janine Jansen

Levon Chilingirian
Manoug Parikian
Yehudi Menuhin
Joseph Szigeti

Peter Cropper (Lindsay Quartet)
Adolf Busch
Rudolf Kolisch
Sándor Végh

Brett Dean (V)
David Oistrakh
Frank Peter Zimmermann
Lakshminarayana Subramaniam

Eugene Drucker (Emerson Quartet)
Jascha Heifetz
Fritz Kreisler
Oscar Shumsky

Augustin Dumay
Isaac Stern
Nathan Milstein
Arthur Grumiaux

Edward Dusinberre (Takács Quartet)
Fritz Kreisler
Arthur Grumiaux
Ginette Neveu

James Ehnes
Jascha Heifetz
Fritz Kreisler
Itzhak Perlman

Bjarte Eike
Fritz Kreisler
Mark O’Connor
Andrew Manze

Isabelle Faust
Adolf Busch
Yehudi Menuhin
Dénes Zsigmondy

Julia Fischer
Yehudi Menuhin
David Oistrakh
Ginette Neveu

Vilde Frang
George Enescu
David Oistrakh
No third choice made

Vadim Gluzman
David Oistrakh
Isaac Stern
Gidon Kremer

Thomas Gould
David Oistrakh
Ivry Gitlis
Gidon Kremer

Philippe Graffin
Gidon Kremer
Philippe Hirschhorn
Josef Gingold

Ilya Gringolts
Yehudi Menuhin
Gidon Kremer
Thomas Zehetmair

Ida Haendel
Jascha Heifetz
Ginette Neveu
Isaac Stern

Viviane Hagner
Jascha Heifetz
Fritz Kreisler
Pinchas Zukerman

Chloë Hanslip
Ida Haendel
Leonid Kogan
Itzhak Perlman

David Harrington (Kronos Quartet)
Fritz Kreisler
‘Caliu’ Gheorghe Anghel
Dr N Rajam

Lesley Hatfield (BBC NOW)
David Oistrakh
Ginette Neveu
No third choice made

Daniel Hope
Fritz Kreisler
David Oistrakh
Jascha Heifetz

Fenella Humphreys
Fritz Kreisler
Josef Hassid
Sidney Griller

Janine Jansen
Arthur Grumiaux
Ginette Neveu
Philippe Hirschhorn

Veronika Jarušková (Pavel Haas Quartet)
David Oistrakh
Stéphane Grappelli
No third choice made

Leila Josefowicz
Gidon Kremer
Bronisław Huberman
Irvine Arditti

Leonidas Kavakos
Fritz Kreisler
Joseph Szigeti
Leonid Kogan

Nigel Kennedy
Isaac Stern
Jean-Luc Ponty
Yehudi Menuhin

Isabelle van Keulen
David Oistrakh
Gidon Kremer
Maxim Vengerov

Jennifer Koh
Bronisław Huberman
Joseph Szigeti
Josef Roisman & Alexander Schneider*

Rachel Kolly d’Alba
Christian Ferras
Ginette Neveu
Arthur Grumiaux

Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Fritz Kreisler
Ivry Gitlis
Gidon Kremer

Henning Kraggerud
David Oistrakh
Ginette Neveu
Joseph Szigeti

Pekka Kuusisto
Svend Asmussen
Mauno Järvelä
Patricia Kopatchinskaja

Jaime Laredo
Yehudi Menuhin
Joseph Szigeti
Isaac Stern

Jack Liebeck
Jascha Heifetz
Nathan Milstein
Maxim Vengerov

Cho-Liang Lin
Jascha Heifetz
Isaac Stern
Itzhak Perlman

Tasmin Little
Ginette Neveu
Ida Haendel
Yehudi Menuhin

Andrew Manze
Reinhard Goebel
Adolf Busch
Stuff Smith

Neville Marriner
Jascha Heifetz
Arthur Grumiaux
Joseph Szigeti

Rupert Marshall-Luck
Itzhak Perlman
Norbert Brainin
Gábor Tákacs-Nagy

Anthony Marwood
Adolf Busch
Joseph Szigeti
Albert Sammons

Robert McDuffie
Yehudi Menuhin
Jascha Heifetz** (see end of list for explanation)
Itzhak Perlman

Anne Akiko Meyers
Jascha Heifetz
Gidon Kremer
David Oistrakh

Roman Mints
Fritz Kreisler
David Oistrakh
Oleg Kagan

Priya Mitchell
Bronisław Huberman
Yehudi Menuhin
Gidon Kremer

Lydia Mordkovitch
David Oistrakh
Jascha Heifetz
George Enescu

Viktoria Mullova
Leonid Kogan
Viktor Tretiakov
Florin Niculescu

Tai Murray
Ginette Neveu
Toscha Seidel
Frank Peter Zimmermann

Anne-Sophie Mutter
Fritz Kreisler
David Oistrakh
Nathan Milstein

Gordan Nikolitch
Jacques Thibaud
Jascha Heifetz
August Wilhelmj

Krysia Osostowicz (Dante Quartet)
Yehudi Menuhin
Joseph Szigeti
Wanda Wilkomirska

Peter Oundjian
David Oistrakh
Itzhak Perlman
Pinchas Zukerman

Ruth Palmer
Viktoria Mullova
Miriam Fried
Ginette Neveu

Itzhak Perlman
Fritz Kreisler
Jascha Heifetz
Isaac Stern

Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian (Trio Wanderer)
Jascha Heifetz
David Oistrakh
Christian Ferras

Jennifer Pike
Jascha Heifetz
Fritz Kreisler
Hugh Bean

Rachel Podger
Gidon Kremer
Ginette Neveu
Reinhard Goebel

Philippe Quint
David Oistrakh
Jascha Heifetz
Itzhak Perlman

Daniel Rohn
Jascha Heifetz
Henryk Szeryng
Pinchas Zukerman

Daniel Rowland (Brodsky Quartet)
Ivry Gitlis
David Oistrakh
Gidon Kremer

Pieter Schoeman (London Philharmonic Orchestra)
Jascha Heifetz
Pinchas Zukerman
Michael Rabin

Károly Schranz (Takács Quartet)
Joseph Szigeti
David Oistrakh
Yehudi Menuhin

Gil Shaham
Fritz Kreisler
Jascha Heifetz
David Oistrakh

Hagai Shaham
Jascha Heifetz
Fritz Kreisler
Nathan Milstein

Dmitry Sitkovetsky
Jascha Heifetz
David Oistrakh
Yehudi Menuhin

Alexander Sitkovetsky
Jascha Heifetz
Fritz Kreisler
Josef Suk

Peter Sheppard Skærved
Louis Krasner
Ralph Holmes
Emil Telmányi

Baiba Skride
David Oistrakh
Nathan Milstein
Henryk Szeryng

Callum Smart
David Oistrakh
Fritz Kreisler
Pinchas Zukerman

Valeriy Sokolov
Yehudi Menuhin
Isaac Stern
George Enescu

Alexandra Soumm
David Oistrakh
Leonid Kogan
Mikhail Kopelman

Simon Standage
Szymon Goldberg
Franco Gulli
Pinchas Zukerman

Arabella Steinbacher
Ivry Gitlis
Arthur Grumiaux
Nathan Milstein

Lara St John
Fritz Kreisler
Bronisław Huberman
Joseph Szigeti

Gábor Takács-Nagy (Takács Quartet)
Yehudi Menuhin
Joseph Szigeti
David Oistrakh

Antoine Tamestit (V)
David Oistrakh
Nathan Milstein
Frank Peter Zimmermann

Richard Tognetti
Ivry Gitlis
Fritz Kreisler
Sigiswald Kuijken

Yuri Torchinsky (BBC Philharmonic)
Jascha Heifetz
Fritz Kreisler
David Oistrakh

Matthew Trusler
Ruggiero Ricci
Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Nathan Milstein

Maxim Vengerov
Fritz Kreisler
Jascha Heifetz
David Oistrakh

Tamsin Waley-Cohen
Fritz Kreisler
Joseph Szigeti
Norbert Brainin

Elizabeth Wallfisch
Jascha Heifetz
David Oistrakh
Fritz Kreisler

Andrew Watkinson (Endellion Quartet)
Yehudi Menuhin
Joseph Szigeti
Adolf Busch

Frank Peter Zimmermann
David Oistrakh
Nathan Milstein
Arthur Grumiaux

Nikolaj Znaider
Jascha Heifetz
Nathan Milstein
Pinchas Zukerman

Pinchas Zukerman
Jascha Heifetz
Nathan Milstein
Isaac Stern

* First and second violinists of the Budapest String Quartet

** Robert McDuffie’s precise reason for Jascha Heifetz was: ‘He is a musical narcissist. He inspired me what not to do.’

This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
© Our Media 2024