Pure harmonies

Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos performs at his debut concert at the Shanghai Concert Hall. Provided to China Daily

Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos hates crossover music and says re-interpretations of great composers is like mixing the clashing contents of a cocktail cupboard. Zhang Kun chats with the maestro about songs, structure, and the special chemistry among great musicians in Shanghai.

Although reluctant to give advice to younger musicians, Leonidas Kavakos believes it is important to understand the music and analyze the structure before learning to play a classical piece.

With this probing and analytical approach, together with exceptional virtuosity, the 47-year-old Greek violinist has become one of the most established violinists of the contemporary time, active in the world music scene since the 1980s, after winning the Sibelius and the Paganini competitions.

Kavakos performed his debut concert at the Shanghai Concert Hall on March 16, playing three violin sonatas by Beethoven with pianist Enrico Pace.

Shanghai audiences were so enthusiastic that they kept asking him back, for five encores. Oriental Morning Post called his performance "penetrating" and "going beyond the potential of his Stradivarius violin".

"Kavakos and pianist Enrico Pace kept strict balance. Pace varied his speed to go with the lyrical expression of Kavakos," music critic Chen Chen wrote in the Shanghai-based newspaper. "Sparkles of humor shined occasionally in their perfect cooperation."

Kavakos has collaborated with Chinese pianist Yuja Wang to record a new album of The Violin Sonatas by Brahms. The album will be released worldwide on March 31.

Kavakos and Wang came upon the idea last summer and recorded the disc in December. The pair will tour Europe in April.

Wang is a young musician at 27, but their age gap wasn't a problem at all.

"We had a common expression, and common understanding of the music. That's why it happened," Kavakos told the media in Shanghai on Mar 14.