Violinist Edvin Marton
SAN DIEGO–Internally acclaimed violinist Edvin Marton brings his U.S. debut “Prince of the Violin” tour to San Diego at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s Sherwood Auditorium on Sunday.
The 6:30 p.m. performance will feature Marton’s fusion of classical music and contemporary rhythms performed on a $7 million dollar 1699 Stradivarius violin, the “ex-Leopold Auer.” This violin takes its name from Leopold Auer (1845-1930) who was one of the greatest and most influential violin pedagogues of all times. French violin virtuoso and conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow previously played on this special violin.
“There are only few Stradivarius violins in the world in such exceptional condition,” Marton says. “It is my wish to not only create beautiful music, but play on an instrument that will be looked upon as a masterpiece in itself.”
Marton’s all-girl rock band will join him on stage to perform his greatest hits from his Hollywood, Virtuoso and Stradivarius albums, including: The Godfather, Beethoven’s 5th, Love Story, Romeo and Juliet, Bitter Sweet Symphony, Vivaldi’s Storm, Hungarian Rhapsody, Paganini’s Capriccio, Tosca’s Fantasy, Clocks by Coldplay, and other hit songs.
He was dubbed the “Prince of the Violin” by author Victoria Rose in her biographical novel, Prince of the Violin: The Secret Life of Edvin Marton.
Marton, a Hungarian musician born in the Ukraine, spoke briefly to San Diego County News about his music. He describes his music as “classical and pop/rock fusion.” Is this a new trend in music?
“It’s not new, but always challenging and exciting. The blending styles from different genres has always been around for centuries now,” Marton said.
Marton began playing the violin at age 5. He says his parents were violinists, and introduced him to the instrument.
He added, “My parents both played the violin, and I was inspired by them.”
At age 8, Marton was accepted into the Central Tchaikovsky Music School in Moscow. At age 12, he performed with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and five years later, he entered the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. He was awarded a scholarship to study at Juilliard School of Music in New York City.
“I was fortunate to study in many places all over the world. I learned something from every school,” he says. “In Russia, I learned a special left hand technique. In Vienna, I learned European approach’elegance of playing’ and in New York, I learned stage presence techniques.”
While in his 20’s, Marton entered a competition at the Orford Arts Center in Canada, and won the opportunity to play Niccolò Paganini’s Stradivarius, which was on loan to him until just recently when it was sold. It was one of eight Stradivarius violins in playable condition in the world. The Stradivarius instruments originate from Antonio Stradivari’s workshop.
Marton tours with his $7 million dollar 1699 Stradivarius violin to concert halls throughout the world. He explains the difference between this violin, and others currently on the market.
“What makes this so spectacular is the sound is incredibly deep, and the craftsmanship is beautiful, especially the golden varnish,” Marton said. “The uniqueness of this is you can play love songs, slow melodies, or fast ones, and the violin responds immediately making the result of the sound incredibly fast.”
During the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Marton performed two original compositions, Tosca Fantasy and Romeo and Juliet, for Gold Medalist skaters Evgeni Plushenko, Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinian. He became close friends with Russian Olympic figure skater Plushenko. That same year, Marton became the first Hungarian to receive an Emmy Award for Best Composition.
Marton and Plushenko united during the internationally televised 2008 Eurovison Song Contest as part of the performance of Russian singer Dima Bilan’s first place winning song, Believe.
He has sold over five million albums worldwide, and played over 1,000 concerts at Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Vienna Concert Hall, and the Shanghai International Festival. He was invited to perform for top artists Seal and Supertramp.
Marton says he admires artists who create their own music such as Pink, Beyonce’ and Sting, and wouldn’t mind performing with them in concert.
He is currently based in the San Fernando Valley where he is working on his new classical crossover album.
The Sherwood Auditorium is located at 700 Prospect Street in San Diego. To purchase tickets, or more information, visit www.ticketsr.com, or call (858) 454-3541.
