young Leonidas Kavakos plays God Save the Queen

[Kurasso]

it's god save the king

[shawrw5]

Fear the stache!

[whentothesessionsof]

I hope people watching this realize it is the most technically challenging thing ever written for any instrument.

[thedurose]

borat plays violin?

[Bautisnemo]

It's so perfect it hurts.

[XxXJuliioXxX]

God Dam'it

[1827violin]

kavakos save the queen(KAVAKOS=GOD)

[Duramlam]

Borat save the Queen

[Sorcerer2k]

@Duramlam hahaha ;)

[aricortez]

Tive o prazer de ouvir esse cara ao vivo aqui no Brasil!

[whatstwelveohnine]

what the fuck

[okenta3ei]

eleos e9nikistes sas gamw tn mana re!!!!

apolayste tn mousiki kai afiste tous ili9ious e9nikismou sas fasistakia!!!

[oopsqoo]

好豐富的曲子！

[ChadWicKeD]

Underneath Leonidas Kavakos' mustache is another bow

[D0g63rt]

Spartaaans! What is your profession!

[gnatural]

Great playing! but ROFL !!! @ 2:09 - 2:16

[opidacul]

beyond reality... bravo.. his name fit's him well, bravo Leonidas!

[ntipouan]

@Obroten : Some people do not belong to a specific or any country.

ΑΝΔΡΩΝ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΩΝ...

[Ellinidara]

@ntipouan Synfwnw apolita :-) !

[claus93Sethsen]

Always thought this was called God save the king, great pieces nevertheless (:

[evil2salad]

Damn, and in a tux as well. That certainly won't make things easier

[4LX1M1K]

Double harmonics are so impressive! Bravissimo!

[MIchaelYiochalas]

3:12 3:41 He puts so much force that the open g sounds a bit higher! He's really fighting that violin! There is so much raw energy there, so much power that he is barely able to control it! That impression, of playing with fire, of balancing on a rope, is what the "virtuoso spirit" is all about, in my opinion. HAIL TO KAVAKOS!

[MIchaelYiochalas]

Watch his face at 1:57 when he makes a mistake. LOL! His virtuosity is just scary, it drives you mad! Kavakos is not a "perfect" violinist, he makes mistakes. I mean, listen to Hilary Hahn, she is always just "perfect", no excess, no weird noises, everything is right in place, both technically and musically. BUT, Kavakos has something that she and most violinists do not have. He has a true virtuoso spirit. His tempos are crazy and his sound is unique. Not perfect. But unique.

[Sven6metalhead]

impossible...i have the notes too.OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gnatural]

The Left hand Pizz at 3:20 on, would give me caluses the size of golf balls.

[PAVLOSVAL]

Δυο....και τον Σγουρο....

[Obroten]

Ena stolidi eixe h ellada kai mas "efyge"!!!!giati eimaste gia ton..........

[violin144000]

This piece is EXTREMELY HARD but very rewarding to play. This piece is like the ultimate of the Paganini pieces for creativity and difficulty. The magic of Paganini though is amazingly the more you play his pieces the better your technique becomes. Paganini was not only the greatest violinist ever but the best teacher in my opinion.

[bilkentmusicdirector]

i have the notes of this piece.. its impossible to play for a normal person... so difficult.. most dificult...

[Gvadalkanal]

Outstanding!!!Nothing else I can say!

[dkurgano]

2:14 ----> suicide :)

amazing technique...

[doremi61]

Bravissimo!

[TheNatalijica]

whydo i even thry,why do i even practice????????

[violin614]

Because you might add something of yourself to it, in the end.

[bubbanelson474]

bcuz one day u want to be as good as him :D

[A4440HZ]

It must feel great to know you played this so well...

[violatione]

Leonidas this is madness!!!!!!!

[Pikaqiu]

LOL

[BeautifulMusic1000]

wow! it really is like magic!

[TheViolinBill]

Just amazing!I have never heard anyone who can play this piece so well!He is the best!!!!!!!!

[Silkmeister]

shocking fingering at 2:15 !!

[kdaat]

cha creii k era la de los sex pistols jiji

[koeniggraetzer]

jajajajajjaaj

[cfeAncient]

Wow, what tramendous amount of skill.

However, I don't think all of pagannini is supposed to be fast and with such an extreme tempo. However, the left hand pizz. is amazing. :o

[sunyuloveu]

can anybody tell me which version is this? Is this the original one? I've never heard the second last variation before.

[trogerhunter]

It's the original one.

[matakiamu]

Aggelos !!!!

[rapp015]

Did someone yell "boob!" at 3:52?

[Silverfind]

lol

[kingkaclub]

hahaha

[poldova]

@rapp015 I think it was just a guy sneezing....but it sounds like boob.....poor bloke...

[XAlphaZEROX]

@rapp015 I think someone died there because of how awesome he was playing.

[sk8channel100]

@rapp015 wf what was this for strange scream

[FloEndlessSummer]

@rapp015 no another violin player in the public got a heart attack

[Naminus]

4:50 AMAZING! Why haven't I heard about this guy until now?

[oatboy]

I dunno, he's pretty damn famous

[gnatural]

yeah there has to be musicality, i love kavakos but this performance..... no no no

[mshakhz]

Oh yeah.. it's so unmusical.. there is no line in his music.. what A HORRIBLE PERFORMANCE. I'm sure you could coach him on this when he comes to study with you... :-\

[gnatural]

btw, i didn't say all that other stuff, you did.

[gnatural]

guess my last response did not pose. Kavakos is great, and i appreciate your sarcasm, but the point i was trying to make was that good paganini is technically great, OK. but GREAT Paganini is technical and musical at the same time. check out Peter Zimmerman for example. there is more to be done with this piece.

[violatione]

lol!!!!

[ptrefftz]

what's the noise at 3:52 ?

[marsvltor2]

Re my comment on Zimmerman (on his page earlier): I take it back. This performance is in the true spirit of Pag. And technically (and let's face it, it was here that Pag staggered his audiences) this is first-rate. Still say that Ricci in the 50s/60s was spectaculatly good.

[marsvltor2]

Try and listen to a recording of Ricci in the late 50s / early 60s. The most perfect left hand pizzicato of all (Heifetz, Milstein, Vengerov et al included...). And probably the greatest fiddle ever made: the 1734 'ex-Gibson' Guarneri del Gesu. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Regards,

Paul

[leighshen]

absolutely amazing

[paganviodio]

this guy is a working horse...there is certainly lots of work here to demonstrate.he might have the best technic of all,technically,really amazing.but paganini was also a musician.a little music couldnt be that wrong i guess.but technically....i wonder if perlman could play this as here.he misses allmost nothing.and this is a very difficult piece.

[cadaverdescompuesto]

the left hand pizzicato wow!!!!

[cromulentinnoc3nce]

HOLY $H!7!!! How the EFF does he do that up-bow ricochet at 4:50!?!?

[stradivari87]

THE BEST KAVAKOS!

[omega770]

Agreed, I think Zimmermann's performance was much more pleasant to listen to, due to his ability to let the notes sink into the audience. He makes sure every note has an equal impact. Whereas in this version, although played well, this one feels rushed =/

[marsvltor2]

And although at a fraction of Kavakos's speed, half of Zimmermann's left hand pizz is missing lol. IMHO this is in the true spirit of Pag. He's Ricci reborn :-)

[Burjexy]

i would like to see a video of you playing this.....if you can :P

[bro2976]

Absolutely in agreement with you on the Kogan "nel cor pui" I have that video, although the pitch is raised and it is out of sync a little in parts, it is incredible. I waish I could find a recording of Kogan playing 24 caprices, I know he did them for his graduation way back when. Have you seen the videos of Li Chuanyun on here? Amazing,

[ItzhakRoxMySox]

No I have not actually. I don't know why I haven't, as many videos as I've watched on here, I know my profile says I've only watched like 1500 or so videos, but it's been LOADS more than that. I might have to check that out, thanks for pointing it out

[bro2976]

They are kind of obscure, but worth the search. Id like to see that Sarah Chang cadenza, I saw the one when she was like eleven, and that was pretty good, but I think you are talking about a different version. I do like Zimmermans God Save also, it is different, and he does the all pizzicato variation, which is one of my favories to play. So you like Itzhak huh? I had some lessons with him and he is a wonderful person.

I like his Beethoven concerto, and his Mendelsohn 3rd mvmt, very playful

[ItzhakRoxMySox]

What!?! You had lessons with him? Wow, that's cool, I would give anything for the opportunity. Lucky one you are, he is obviously my favorite. And yes, the Chang cadenza, very very good. I will try again this week coming up. And depending on popular request that I may or may not receive, I might upload the remainder of the movement as well

[10DongJJ]

hey which version is this, i havea version that doesnt have the double harmonics but instead has crazy pizzes

[adrianavioline]

AMAZING!Viva paganini!Viva Kavakos!

[pesce54]

semplicemente unico! forse la migliore esecuzione che io abbia sentito di questo brano

[youngmommyx3]

kavakos is the best violinist I have ever heard. It's nice that he's now on youtube, but I wish I could hear him live, every day! ahhhh, that would be heaven!

[dostc]

Can you explain how to make double trill during flajole? :)

[bubbles9816]

WOW. amazing. still for this piece i also like ruggiero ricci's version.i had an old LP called paganinis recital by ricci.kavakos is amozing tho.imagine paganini playing this and le stregge and concerto no.3 all of it in the same concert heh.

[mixailaggelos2004]

I never liked Ruggiero Ricci.. he was so scratchy and some times out of tune...

[ItzhakRoxMySox]

Much agreed.

[trogerhunter]

U never liked Ricci, because it is much too high for you dirtbag to understand or simply HEAR,what's reeeeeeeeeeeally going on.Give him a favor:just don't listen to him .And give me a favor too.... fuck yourself!!

[mixailaggelos2004]

Its not just me who says this but most of the people... the rest of your comment are just shit that characterise yourself..

[koutsompola11]

Too late!!!!He has a girlfriend and she is amazing beautiful,me alla logia mounara

[murtogomenara]

Leonidas,I want to marry you!

[radrianov]

:) :) Great job!!!!!!!!

[Burjexy]

WHOA

[ItzhakRoxMySox]

Of course it's amazing that he can play with such great technical mastery. I just wish he would slow it down a bit to bring out the musical side of it a bit more, sort of like Zimmermann(who i always end up using as a stardard for this piece, seeing as he was the first one i heard to play it)

[bro2976]

You would like to hear the "musical side" of god save the king?? Im not sure musical profundity was the point of this piece. I have never heard a more impressive version of this, though I would bet Li Chuanyun may give it a run for the money.

[ItzhakRoxMySox]

So then you're saying that it's supposed to be a technical exercise, to be played as an etude or such? I think not, that's what Paganini wrote the caprices for. This piece sounds better when and should be played lyrically. Kavakos doesn't do it. There is a way to show off your technical skill AND play lyrically and he doesn't do it. Plus, his rendition is a bit too pitchy for my liking, I'm sorry

[bro2976]

Actually, this piece was never written down, Paganini used these tunes and added his own pyrotechnics to them basically to show his at the time new techniques. To me, attempting to superimpose so called musical ideas onto such a trite piece of music as this defeats the point, which in his own time was basically to wow the crowd. There is no debate that some of Paganinis real compositions contain great music, this really is not one of them. Dont apologize, your opinion is as valid as mine.

[dkurgano]

perfect

[violino0001]

Bravissimo!!!!Thank you for the video!!

100000stars!!!

[JVQ8Y]

.-

what can I say... When one watches amazing violinists (heifetz, kogan, oistrach etc.), they can observe and learn.. when one watches Kavakos, it's impossible to learn. Because it's magic. we can only gasp in amazement.

My Total Respect.

[asesosas]

There is more magic in a single slow moving phrase by Heifetz or Oistrach than in this whole video. Here I just see UNBELIEVABLE technical skill. I love Kavakos though and knowing his other great interpretations of other works I can say that he is a great violinist and among my favorites. But Heifetz and Oistrakh are just in a different world altogether

[KoganSvetlanov]

Please watch some other videos from Kavakos ( if you want I can let you some potatos to eat together with your words )

[asesosas]

Kavakos is a beyond brilliat technical gymnast and a fine musician and he is among my favorite modern violinists. However he is a special violinst not necessarily because of his immense technical arsenal, but because of how he uses it to serve the music, and this is exactly why in my opinion Heifetz and Oistrakh and other old greats remain even to this day head and shoulders above anyone else in the modern violinistic world.

cheers

[reallyharried]

The work of Jasha and David you're remembering came from much more mature musicians. Please give Leonidas a few more years. He was eighteen at the time of this video.

[fullargon]

He's my hero!!!

[pacman7654]

O.M.G. he's godly!! I like the vocal accompaniment at 3:52.

[leonidaskavakos]

vocal accompaniment?LOOOOOOOOOOLhaha­hah nice

[KoganSvetlanov]

who did that ????????????

[majomxxl]

word classic NO.1

[S1ndar]

Hoi! :O Superb!

[likemyviolin]

Great that we have Kavakos on the YouTube!

Thanks.

[sakaramata]

this is a answer to all the guys who say: i dont know kavakos.....

[mrblitzman]

God save Kavakos

[vcij]

THIS MUST NOT BE REAL

[scorpion777777]

i CANT bELIEVE what he does in 4:50.

this is no possible

[chop211]

he was 12 here and he still had a moustache ;)

[kavak260773]

I believe this guy in the day of his birth took the violin and he played this piece quite well. With the moustache always on. By the way he is 18 on this video.

[liviern3]

OH MY GOD.He might be the best violinist this world has ever seen...

[kavak260773]

poios eisai re file

[chop211]

I too demand more kavakos on youtube. Thanks spacemoscito (sic)

[caravantorio]

Looks easy like drinking a tee...

THIS here is amazing.

[ssebu]

This is amazing! Where did you find these videos?