For more than six decades, he has mesmerized generations of classical music lovers with his virtuosity, warmth and humility, and golden sound. He’s performed in the premier concert halls around the world before kings, queens, countless heads of state and others.
And since his first appearance on the global stage in 1958 as a 13-year-old Israeli violin prodigy and polio survivor on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” Yitzhak Perlman has inspired millions with his determination and courage.
A 16-time Grammy Award winner who in 2015 was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Perlman, 75, will perform at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s season opening concert on Saturday, Sept. 11, as leader and soloist. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., featuring Bach Violin Concerto No. 2, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture and Ravel’s Bolero.
Besides the renowned violinist and conductor, headlining performers during the BSO’s 2021-2022 season will include superstar soprano and National Medal of Arts recipient Renée Fleming, celebrated operatic baritone Rod Gilfry, Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti and British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor.
“It’s incredibly exciting to envision the enthusiasm of both performers and audiences as we all rediscover the magic of live symphonic music together, on our return to the stages in Baltimore and Montgomery County as well as in community venues all across the State of Maryland,” said percussionist Brian Prechtl, chair of the BSO’s Players’ Committee. “Equally exciting is the programming itself, a well-balanced season that represents the organizational transformation underway.”
Born in Tel Aviv to a Jewish family originally from Poland, Perlman contracted polio at age four, which left his legs paralyzed. His first public concert was in Tel Aviv at the age of 10.
In 1958, Perlman went to the United States to study at the Julliard School in New York City with the violin pedagogue Ivan Galamian and his assistant Dorothy DeLay.
Perlman made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1963 at the age of 17 and won the prestigious Leventritt Prize a year later, which brought him immediate engagements with major American orchestras. Besides his extensive recording and performance career, he has made appearances on such television shows such as “The Tonight Show,” “The Late Show With David Letterman,” “Live from Lincoln Center,” “The Frugal Gourmet” and “Sesame Street,” as well as performed at numerous functions at the White House.
In addition to his classical concert repertoire, Perlman, who lives in New York, has occasionally played jazz and with such klezmer groups as The Klezmatics and the Klezmatic Conservatory Band. In 1995, he received an Emmy Award for the PBS television special “In the Fiddler’s House,” which was filmed in Poland and featured him performing with four of the world’s leading klezmer bands.
Perlman also played the solo violin passages in John Williams’ Academy Award-winning score for the 1993 film “Schindler’s List.”
Over the years, Perlman has enjoyed a long association with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In November of 1987, he joined the Israel Philharmonic for history-making concerts in Warsaw and Budapest, representing the first performances by the orchestra and soloist in Eastern bloc countries. Perlman made history again when joining the orchestra for its first visit to the former Soviet Union in the spring of 1990, and was cheered wildly by audiences in Moscow and Leningrad. The triumphant visit was captured on a PBS documentary titled “Perlman in Russia,” which also won an Emmy.
In December of 1994, Perlman joined the Israel Philharmonic for its first visits ever to China and India.
Among the notable musicians who have performed with Perlman over the years are Yo-Yo Ma, Isaac Stern, Larry Adler, Yuri Termikranov, Pinchas Zukerman, Jessye Norman and Billy Joel. (Perlman plays the violin solo on Joel’s 1990 hit “The Downeaster ‘Alexa.'”)
“A lot of people ask me, ‘What is your goal now that you have done everything?'” Perlman told National Public Radio in 2015. “And I always say that my goal is to not be bored by what I do. The only way that I cannot be bored by what I do is if I play something and it’s all new to me.”
When performing, Perlman plays an antique Soil Stradivarius violin once owned by Yehudi Menuhin that is considered to be one of the finest violins made during Stradivari’s “golden period.”
“He’s got a gift,” Israeli master violin maker Amnon Weinstein says of Perlman in the 2017 award-winning documentary “Itzhak. ” “Because what he’s doing there, it’s not music. It is praying with the violin.”
Tickets for the BSO season opening concert went on sale Aug. 3. Please note that all performances may have a limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions. Capacity will vary by venue. Masking and social distancing are subject to change based on the latest public health and government guidelines.
For information, visit www.BSOmusic.org or contact PatronSupport@BSOmusic.org or 1-877-276-1444.
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