How do you decide on the best violinist of all time? It’s the instrument that has inspired solo masterpieces from Bach to Bartók, that leads the way in chamber groups and symphony orchestras, that is equally at home in gypsy, klezmer and jazz groups alike.
And in the right hands, few instruments can match the violin for displays of thrilling virtuosity, for expressing the full gamut of human emotions and for sheer beauty of sound. As a result, few instrumentalists have had quite the same legendary status as enjoyed by the greatest violinists.
Best violinist: our top 21
We asked 100 of today’s best players to tell us the violinists who have inspired them most. Each had three choices, with the stipulation that they must have heard them either on disc or live. We then totted up the results to produce the following Top 20 of the greatest violinists of the recorded era…
You may also enjoy our list of the greatest violin concertos of all time.
21. Christian Ferras
(1933-82) French
A former child prodigy, throughout the 1950s and ’60s Christian Ferras was among the violin-playing elite. He was still a teenager when he made his debut. That was playing the Beethoven Concerto with Karl Böhm and the Berlin Philharmonic (which we named one of the best orchestras in the world).
Such was Ferras's impact over the following decade that he was signed up by Herbert von Karajan. The unique deal aimed to record the major violin repertoire over 20 discs. In the event the signing was sadly curtailed due to Ferras’s struggles with depression and alcohol.
By the mid-1970s the engagements diary of this prince of violinists was virtually empty. Following a brief comeback when he was reported to be playing better than ever, he tragically took his own life.
Ferras’s playing combined exquisite tonal purity with exemplary technique. Whether playing Mozart sonatas, the Brahms Double Concerto with cellist Paul Tortelier or premiering contemporary works such as the Honegger Sonata, he created the impression of having a hotline to the composer.
Best violinist: the top 20
20. Janine Jansen
(b. 1978) Dutch
Janine Jansen’s deeply expressive playing and dynamic performances have earned her critical acclaim, particularly in Baroque and Romantic works. Her tone is instantly recognisable for its warmth and depth.
Jansen's albums, including Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Bach’s Violin Concertos, and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, have topped classical charts, with her Vivaldi recording alone selling over 250,000 copies.
While excelling as a concerto soloist, she's also a dedicated chamber musician, frequently collaborating with artists like cellist Mischa Maisky and pianist Martha Argerich. Janine Jansen has played on some of the world’s finest violins, including the 1715 'Shumsky' Stradivarius and the 1707 'Rivaz, Baron Gutmann' Stradivarius, loaned to her by the Beare’s International Violin Society.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Sibelius: Violin Concerto; Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 (Oslo Philharmonic/Klaus Mäkelä)
Decca 4854748
19. Maxim Vengerov
(b. 1974) Russian/Israeli
Vengerov’s virtuosic technique, expressive and dramatic stage presence, and profound musicality have set him apart since his early career. His return to performing after a brief hiatus reaffirmed his status as one of the greatest violinists of his generation.
We've got a few child prodigies in our list, but few so surely deserve the label as Vengerov. He made his solo debut at age five, and won the prestigious Wieniawski Competition as a teenager.
Vengerov's performances of Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Shostakovich concertos remain benchmarks, praised for their intensity and depth.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1; Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 (London Symphony Orchestra/Mstislav Rostropovich)
18. Bronisław Huberman
(1882-1947) Polish
Bronisław Huberman became a dominant musical figure worldwide, particularly after 1920, performing the concertos of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Paganini and Tchaikovsky, sonatas and solos by Beethoven, Sarasate and Wieniawski, salon pieces and violin/piano arrangements (notably of Schubert songs).
His interpretations were renowned for their striking individuality, artistry and integrity, even if his technique and style were somewhat retrospective, unpredictable and subjects of deprecatory criticism by some fellow violinists. As such, he may be a controversial choice in our list of greatest violinists.
Huberman opposed the Nazi regime and was instrumental in forming the Palestine Symphony (later Israel Philharmonic) Orchestra in 1936.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61 (Vienna Philharmonic/George Szell)
Naxos 8.110903
17. Leonid Kogan
(1924-82) Russian
Such was the dominance of David Oistrakh in the Soviet Union that the brilliance of his younger compatriot Leonid Kogan slipped comparatively under the radar.
A model of restraint both on and off the stage, Kogan’s playing was notable for his immaculate technique and intonation. That, and a purity of sound that saw vibrato kept to a minimum. As a chamber musician, in particular, he was in his element. He formed a notable trio with pianist Emil Gilels and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Later on in his life, he was accompanied by his daughter Nina.
Sadly, that life came to an all-too-early end. Kogandied aged just 58 on a train on the way to a concert engagement. He had already, though, cemented his place as one of the greatest violinists of his era.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Beethoven, Brahms and Franck Violin Sonatas with Nina Kogan (piano)
Orfeo C657051B
16. Ivry Gitlis
(1922-2019) Israeli
One of the most charismatic and underestimated violinists of his times, Ivry Gitlis has been as expert in jazz, pop and gypsy styles as in Classical, Romantic and contemporary repertoire. His performances sometimes seem eccentric and undisciplined but are full of character and inward feeling, emphasising individual expression and musical intuition over textual, stylistic and historical awareness.
Gitlis toured widely from the 1950s, performing in particular the Berg, Bartók, Sibelius and Stravinsky concertos, championing new music by Maderna, Xenakis and others, and even participating in projects with John Lennon and The Rolling Stones.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: The Art of Ivry Gitlis: Violin Concertos by Bartók, Berg, Hindemith, Mendelssohn, Sibelius and more
Brilliant Classics 9145
Best violinist: the top 15
15. Adolf Busch
(1891-1952) German
Adolf Busch became revered not only as a solo violinist and composer but also as founder of the Busch Chamber Players and the Malboro Festival, Vermont. He was also the moving spirit behind three distinguished chamber ensembles. These were the Busch Quartet, a duo with pianist (and his future son-in-law) Rudolf Serkin, and the Busch Trio with his cellist brother, Hermann, and Serkin.
Busch’s playing was disciplined, precise and authoritative. His tone was pure and sonorous and he consistently exploited technical adroitness to musical ends, incorporating portamento tastefully, varying vibrato subtly, and bowing with finesse.
He became renowned for his interpretations of Beethoven and Brahms concertos, also championing works by Reger, Suter and Busoni; and his chamber ensembles established their pre-eminence in works by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Opp. 12/3, 24 & 47 With Rudolf Serkin (piano)
Naxos 8.110954
14. Pinchas Zukerman
(b.1948) Israeli
Pinchas Zukerman first reached wide international prominence in the musical circle of friends around Daniel Barenboim and Jacqueline du Pré in the 1960s and ’70s.
After drawing the attention of cellist Pablo Casals and Isaac Stern as a violin prodigy in Israel, Zukerman went to New York’s Juilliard School to study with Ivan Galamian. He has a personal sound that is easy to spot – intense, passionate and strong-centred – which enhances a wide range of repertoire, perhaps strongest in the heartlands of the great Romantic concertos as well as Beethoven and Mozart.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Great Violin Concertos – Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky With Chicago Symphony/Daniel Barenboim
DG E453 1422
13. Arthur Grumiaux
(1921-86) Belgian
Arthur Grumiaux was one of the great aristocrats of the violin but was also a remarkable pianist, as witness a unique 1957 recording he made of Brahms and Mozart sonatas playing both parts! The complete opposite of a temperamental maestro, Grumiaux was at his happiest playing chamber music with friends and colleagues, most notably the great Romanian pianist Clara Haskil – he was never the same after she suffered a fatal fall at a railway station on the way to one of their duo recitals.
For Grumiaux, purity in everything was paramount. His bowing action and left-hand facility were near-flawless, resulting in a unique, golden sound that can be savoured on his classic recordings of Bach and Mozart. Truly a candidate for best violinist of all time.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Bach: Complete Solo Sonatas and Partitas
Decca 438 7362
12. Itzhak Perlman
(b.1945) Israeli-American
No virtuoso in history has made playing the violin appear as nonchalant as Itzhak Perlman. By the time the polio-stricken 13 year-old made his sensational American television debut playing the finale of Mendelssohn’s E minor Concerto on Ed Sullivan’s Caravan of Stars, the essentials of his mature playing were already in place – the almost carefree bowing style, the large left hand that effortlessly negotiated the violin almost without the need to change position, a sumptuous sound of captivating tonal allure and a joyous stage presence that radiated warmth and enthusiasm.
Equally comfortable in front of a film camera as a studio microphone, Perlman was one of an exceptional group of world-class young musicians – including Daniel Barenboim, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jacqueline du Pré and another of our greatest violinists, Pinchas Zukerman – who emerged in the 1960s as already fully fledged masters of their craft.
As scintillating when playing JS Bach, Mozart and Beethoven as he is when soaring aloft with Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Elgar, Perlman’s greatest gift is his ability to make the music of composing’s second, third and even fourth raters sound like masterpieces. When it comes to the virtuoso encore repertoire and the concertos of Khachaturian, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Korngold, Wieniawski and Goldmark, he is in a class of his own.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Violin Encores
EMI 476 9572
11. Isaac Stern
(1920-2001) Polish-American
A leading statesman among 20th-century violinists, Isaac Stern was respected for his probing musical insights as much as for his scorching virtuosity. There was an intensity about Stern’s playing during the 1950s and ’60s in particular that remains utterly unique.
From Lalo and Sibelius to Bruch and Tchaikovsky – especially when working with conductor Eugene Ormandy and his ‘fabulous Philadelphians’ – Stern made music come alive with an electrifying pulse. As each piece unfolded, he revealed its underlying narrative, its expressive nerve-centre with an almost child-like sense of awe and wonder.
‘I have a responsibility to pass on to the next generation what I learned from my teachers,’ he once said. ‘It keeps me young and reminds me where I came from.’
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Isaac Stern: The Soul of the Violin
Sony 88697 573872
Best violinist of all time: the top 10
10. Ginette Neveu
(1919-49) French
The first woman in our list of greatest violinists: and what a performer.
Ginette Neveu’s tragic death in a plane crash at the age of 30 deprived the musical world of a violinist who had made a tremendous impact with the power and beauty of her tone. Her emotional intensity makes her recordings of Chausson’s Poème and the Sibelius Violin Concerto some of the finest, and best loved, in the catalogue.
Ginette Neveu made her public debut at just seven, and at 15 she took first prize at the Wieniawski Competition. David Oistrakh pulled in in second place. She toured extensively from then on, though her career was interrupted by the advent of World War II. Among many highlights in a remarkable but far-too-short career, she gave the world premiere of Poulenc’s Violin Sonata.
Her playing was characterised by an ability to combine that vast intensity with fulsome and precise tone. Her sound (and her appearance too, according to some) was often thought of as virtually ‘masculine’. It was said that when her body was recovered, she was still clutching her Stradivarius in her arms.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Ginette Neveu: The Complete Studio Recordings
Documents 600057
9. Joseph Szigeti
(1892-1973) Hungarian
A child prodigy, Joseph Szigeti was a prime figure in a generation of Hungarian violinists whose technical finesse, penetrating musicianship and magnetic personalities left a vital legacy for the future.
Studies with the composer Ferruccio Busoni gave Szigeti a strong intellectual basis for his playing, and his close friendship with Bela Bartók proved just as crucial, sparked by an unlikely meeting in a Swiss sanatorium where Szigeti was recovering from TB and Bartók from pneumonia.
The two made definitive recordings of Bartók’s works for violin and piano and, with Benny Goodman on the clarinet, Contrasts. During the course of a long career, Szigeti left a substantial quantity of superb recordings and taught extensively. He published his influential treatise, Szigeti on the Violin, in 1969.
Szigeti was described as ‘an incredibly cultured musician’ by Nathan Milstein. Yehudi Menuhin reflected that ‘while Enescu was a force of nature, Szigeti, slender, small, anxious, was a beautifully fashioned piece of porcelain’.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Bartók: Contrasts and Rhapsody No. 1 With Bela Bartók (piano) & Benny Goodman (clarinet) Naxos 8.111343
8. Hilary Hahn
(b. 1979, American)
Known for her precision, deep interpretation, and versatility, Hahn excels in both traditional and contemporary repertoire, captivating audiences worldwide with her artistry.
Hahn was something of a musical prodigy, making her orchestral debut at just 11 years old and recording her first album at 16. She has a diverse repertoire: a master of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, she has also championed contemporary composers like Jennifer Higdon, who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning concerto for her.
She also has multiple Grammy Awards under her belt, including those for her recordings of the concertos of Samuel Barber, Higdon and Tchaikovsky.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Eclipse (Dvořák/Sarasate/Ginsatera Violin Concertos)
7. Gidon Kremer
(b.1947) German/Latvian
In a recent interview Gidon Kremer stated his aesthetic credo: ‘I am attached to music that speaks to you and does not just manipulate your sophistication. The point is not only to say something unheard of before but to say it in a language of emotion.’
Not so different from many latter day Soviet violinists, one might say. Yet how many appear so at home in both Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas and Berg’s Violin Concerto, playing these idiomatically and yet with refreshing lack of affectation? Here he is with Martha Argerich, a frequent partner.
Credit for this lies both with Kremer, unquestionably one of the greatest violinists of his or any era, and his teacher, David Oistrakh. The singing tone of his mentor is evident in all Kremer’s playing, and not just in the repertoire they share.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Silvestrov: Post Scriptum; Dedication With Vadim Sakharov (piano); Munich Philharmonic/Roman Kofman Apex 2564 69896-3
6. Anne-Sophie Mutter
(b. 1963) German
A trailblazer in modern violin performance, Mutter is renowned for her commanding presence, golden tone, and adventurous repertoire choices, including collaborations with contemporary composers.
Since being discovered by Karajan as a teenager (she made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic at age 13), Mutter has dazzled audiences with her technical brilliance and deeply expressive interpretations. She has excelled in the great Classical and Romantic concertos, but has also championed contemporary music, premiering works by composers including John Williams, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Sofia Gubaidulina.
Her collaborations with Williams have been just one example of the ways in which Anne-Sophie Mutter has expanded the violin’s repertoire, working with living composers and exploring both jazz and film music. She has also played a large role in music education and philanthropy, with the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation dedicated to fostering young talent, supporting the next generation of violinists.
Best violinist of all time: the top five
5. Nathan Milstein
(1903-92) Russian-American
Almost painfully self-effacing and indifferent to fame and fortune, Nathan Milstein was a violinist’s violinist. He lived and breathed the violin almost to the exclusion of anything else. It was his lifelong companion but also a thing of wonder, whose mysteries and challenges he devoted a lifetime to solving.
He might well have stayed in his native Russia had it not been for a chance encounter with pianist Vladimir Horowitz, with whom he became close friends. ‘Horowitz invited me round for tea,’ he drily reflected, ‘and I ended up staying three years.’
Who did Nathan Milstein perform with?
Having conquered Mother Russia, the pair made their way to North America. Horowitz hit his audiences like a meteor with his astonishing keyboard bravado. Milstein approached things more by stealth, gently seducing his listeners into a world of extraordinary refinement with his sleight-of-hand technique.
Milstein was above all celebrated for his unique tonal lustre, the result of a near-perfect playing mechanism. He coaxed the sound out of his violin by taking unusually long bow-strokes at a relatively low pressure and was no less gentle with the fingers of his left hand which were more about precision than strength, resulting in intonation of ringing purity. The refinement of his playing proved every bit as seductive in Glazunov and Saint-Saëns concertos as it was in the music of Bach and Mozart.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: The Very Best of Milstein EMI 094 7972
4. Yehudi Menuhin
(1916-99) American
Next in our search for the best violinist of all time is a name who will be familiar to many. Born in New York, the son of Jewish immigrants from Belarus, Yehudi Menuhin enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame as a child prodigy. He went on to become one of the few violinists who can be viewed as truly iconic.
His work was frequently groundbreaking, in ways that ranged from recording Elgar’s Violin Concerto under the baton of the composer in 1932 to playing jazz with Stéphane Grappelli and collaborating with Ravi Shankar. He gave a number of significant world premieres, including that of Bartók’s Solo Sonata and the Walton Violin Sonata. Another vital moment was when, in 1945, he and Benjamin Benjamin Britten travelled to the liberated concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen and played to the survivors and Allied soldiers in shocking circumstances that are said to have affected Menuhin for years.
Who did Yehudi Menuhin teach?
In 1962 he founded the Yehudi Menuhin School with the aim of providing top-level tuition for exceptionally gifted young musicians. The school went on to train some of the UK’s most significant string players and pianists including Nigel Kennedy and Tasmin Little.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Bruch & Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra/Walter Susskind, Efrem Kurtz EMI 965 9262
3. Fritz Kreisler
(1875-1962) Austrian
Born in Vienna in 1875, Fritz Kreisler was a violinist like no other: a musician whose unmistakeable sound seemed to embody the essence of the Viennese Romantic style.
During his studies there and in Paris, Delibes and Bruckner and Massenet were among his professors. Yet as a youth he auditioned for the Vienna Philharmonic, only to find himself turned down by its leader, Arnold Rosé. He was so dispirited that he nearly enrolled to study medicine instead. This was the first of a number of narrow escapes in both his career and his life.
Kreisler’s style in certain ways is epitomised by the violin and piano miniatures he wrote and performed. He often disguised these as pastiches of Baroque composers, when they were in fact his original work. The waltzes Liebeslied, Liebesfreud and Schöne Rosmarin are among those that remain popular encores with today’s soloists.
But if there remains a lingering impression that Kreisler was the arch salon violinist, it is somewhat misleading. His pianist duo partner on a few precious recordings of larger-scale sonatas was none other than Sergey Rachmaninov and he also left important recordings of numerous major concertos. Sadly, though, not of the Elgar Violin Concerto, which was written for him. He made modifications of his own to it before giving its premiere in 1910.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Kreisler: Original Compositions & Arrangements EMI 476 8402
2. Jascha Heifetz
(1901-87) Lithuanian-American
‘Born in Russia, first lessons at three, debut in Russia at seven, debut in America in 1917. That’s all there is to say, really.’ Jascha Heifetz’s summing up of his rise to stardom may seem matter-of-fact. But it does capture something of his predestination in becoming one of the all-time greats.
‘Don’t ask me how he did it,’ Heifetz reflected, ‘for I would not know how to tell you.’ The real secret seems to have been Heifetz’s strict regime of practice. ‘If I don’t practise one day, I know it,’ he explained in later life. ‘Two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it!’
Where did Heifetz make his American debut?
Heifetz's Carnegie Hall left the audience shell-shocked. It wasn’t just the fact that Heifetz’s playing was technically in a class of its own. No, they had also witnessed an entirely different, modernist way of playing the instrument. The prevailing tendency had been towards creating a rounded tone of depth and resonance. In contrast, Heifetz’s meticulously honed technique was focussed on absolute clarity.
Although he was an outstanding exponent of Bach and Beethoven, Heifetz’s repertoire was centred on the Romantic period which he considered ‘already so overloaded with sentiment that all you have to do is play the notes – it will come out anyway!’ He did draw the line at most contemporary music though.
Unquestionably a candidate for the best violinist of all time - and, for many, sitting right at the top.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Walton/Castelnuovo-Tedesco Violin Concertos etc With Philharmonia/William Walton, LA Philharmonic/Alfred Wallenstein etc
Naxos 8.111367
Best violinist: the greatest of them all
1. David Oistrakh
(1908-74) Ukrainian
David Oistrakh's dream of becoming a violinist started when, aged three, he was given a toy violin. His father, himself a keen amateur violinist, also introduced him to klezmer tunes. Their expressive style and virtuosity became an essential part of the budding young violinist’s musical makeup which he eventually passed to his students.
Oistrakh was five when he began lessons with his only official teacher, Pyotr Stolyarsky. A pit musician from the Odessa Opera, Stolyarsky was a mediocre player. Yet he was a remarkable pedagogue, also teaching such luminaries as Nathan Milstein and Elizaveta Gilels.
Stolyarsky instilled in his pupils the habit of picking up their violin and warming up first thing before breakfast and last thing before going to bed. Oistrakh maintained this habit for the rest of his life. Stolyarsky also nurtured the long legato bow of which Oistrakh became master. He told his pupils: ‘Imagine your bow is your salary. You need to spend it all, but over a single long period.’
David Oistrakh: early breakthroughs
Oistrakh’s modest and collegial personality, contrary to the bitter, ulcer-inducing rivalry of so many Soviet musicians, readily won him friends among fellow musicians, and his appointment on the staff of the Moscow Conservatoire in 1934 reinforced his association with such violinists as Abram Yampolsky and Lev Tseitlin, and the pianists Heinrich Neuhaus and Vladimir Sofronitsky. All these performers deepened Oistrakh’s musical perception and intelligence.
Following his success in several competitions, including winning second prize at the 1935 Wieniawski Contest in Poland (Ginette Neveu winning first prize), Oistrakh triumphed in the 1937 Ysaÿe Concours in Brussels, so establishing himself as the Soviet Union’s leading violinist. He worked with all the leading Soviet composers, inspiring and closely collaborating on the creation of several major works including violin concertos by Shostakovich, Myaskovsky and Khachaturian, and violin sonatas by Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
'A seamless, singing legato'
His technique – note-sure and cleanly articulated even in the most virtuosic passagework – was crowned by a seamless, singing legato, apparently unbroken by any change in bow direction. Yet Oistrakh’s playing is recognisable not because he coasted, as have so many celebrated violinists, on a generic ‘sound’.
Oistrakh was incisive when appropriate – for instance, when playing Bartók’s First Violin Sonata or Shostakovich’s Violin Concertos. He also had a remarkable ear and feel for sonority, finding an ideal colour for whatever he was playing. Witness the veiled tone quality with which he plays the furtive opening of Debussy’s Sonata. He creates a shadowy yet still expressive tone by bowing over the fingerboard (sul tasto), only blossoming into a full-throated sound when the music finally becomes impassioned at the movement’s end.
Yet he never indulged in histrionics. As his great admirer and friend Yehudi Menuhin said, Oistrakh would ‘dramatise with discretion’, having considered every note and every phrase of the works he performed. Oistrakh so closely identified with whatever repertoire he played – whether Bach, Brahms or Shostakovich – that his listeners became no longer aware of his instrument and the technique with which he played it, but rather heard, as if unmediated, his ‘voice’ and its expression.
ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Brahms: Violin Sonata, Op. 100; Prokofiev: Violin Sonata No. 1 With Sviatoslav Richter (piano) Orfeo C 489 981 B
Words by Julian Haylock, Jessica Duchen, Robin Stowell, Daniel Jaffé, Jeremy Pound and Rebecca Franks
Greatest violinists of all time: how did we get our results?
Who were the 100 violinists that took part in our poll? And whom did they each nominate? Click here to see the voting in full.