The ANNOTICO Report

17 yr old Nicola Benedetti, already an client of the powerful agency IMG,
has signed with Deutsche Grammophon in a six-album, ?1 million deal that
sets her up as one of the biggest stars of her generation.

It's astonishing to think that she's only 17, because she has the
self-possession of someone a good five years older. Part of that is perhaps
the result of leaving home at age 10, in Scotland where her parents had
migrated to from Italy, to board at the Menuhin School; she has scarcely
lived at home since. But it must also spring from her inner certainty about
her vocation.

Her Italianate beauty and engaging Scottish accent make her a marketer's
dream.

Benedetti first encountered a violin thanks to a gifted violin teacher at
school and her elder sister's enthusiasm for the instrument. They began
lessons together aged eight and four; her sister Stephanie is now studying
at the Royal College of Music. There was no music in the family, although
plenty of material advantages (including Benedetti's 1751 Guarneri violin)
came from their Italian father's success in the pharmaceutical industry.
But the girls were not surrounded by music, and there was no "pushy parent"
syndrome.

She's proud, too, of her Italian heritage — "So much music has come from
Italy and most of the great violins were made there" — but now goes to
Italy less frequently. "We used to go skiing every year, until I was told
that I needed to be more careful about my hands. I haven't skied since.
That does annoy me, because I absolutely loved it."

Nicoletta's first CD was has recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra
and the conductor Daniel Harding. It features her Szymanowski concerto,
with the Po?me by Chausson, the new Tavener piece and works by Massenet and
Saint-Sa?ns. This meaty programme was a challenge for a first recording.

She also feels she has a mission to encourage young people towards
classical music. "I'm passionate about breaking down the categories of
classical and pop music," she explains. "I don't want to mix the two
styles, but just to make children aware that classical music is not so far
away from pop music.

There are two photos of this striking, mature, and poised young lady that
accompany the article:
http://www.andante.com/article/
article.cfm?id=25108

DON'T WORRY, SHE WILL NOT BECOME A VIOLIN BIMBO- TEENAGE PHENOMENON NICOLA
BENDEDETTI

The Independent [London]
By Jessica Duchen
31 January 2005

When a slender, dark-eyed, 16-year-old girl lifted her bow and began to
play the exotic music of Karol Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No 1, the
audience at the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2004 final realised they
were hearing something out of the ordinary. There had been much excitement
over Benjamin Grosvenor, an 11-year-old piano prodigy; some expected him to
walk away with the prize. But it was clear to me, for one, that Nicola
Benedetti was exceptional.

Her rich, expressive tone, her assured and controlled technique and her
intuitive grasp of this complex concerto and its subtle colours marked her
as a musician far ahead of her years: a fully fledged artist, ready to
begin her career there and then.[Yes, she won!]

In fact, Benedetti had already begun her career. She trained at the Yehudi
Menuhin School, home to the cream of young musical talent in the UK, and
left at 15 to concentrate on the violin alone. Before the BBC competition,
she had already been snapped up by the powerful agency IMG, and several
record companies had expressed interest. But the prize accelerated matters;
last week it was announced that Benedetti has signed for Deutsche
Grammophon in a six-album, ?1 million deal that sets her up as one of the
biggest stars of her generation.

Benedetti, trying to keep warm in a Soho restaurant on a freezing January
morning, hasn't let the flood of attention go to her head. Even so, it's
astonishing to think that she's only 17, because she has the
self-possession of someone a good five years older. Part of that is perhaps
the result of leaving home aged 10 to board at the Menuhin School; she has
scarcely lived at home since. But it must also spring from her inner
certainty about her vocation. Most people with a vocation, no matter its
type, just want the chance to be themselves and fulfil that certainty. She
is no exception.

And she needs her sense of self, because it's not only her playing that has
captured the imagination. Her Italianate beauty and engaging Scottish
accent make her a marketer's dream. The minute the nation saw her on
television, the question was inevitable: would she be the next skimpily
clad "classical babe", the next crossover whizz-kid like [at right]
Vanessa-Mae?

Benedetti may not be averse to a spot of modelling, but she seems puzzled
by the peculiarly British assumption that she would instantly fling herself
downmarket. No such tabloid pressures were brought to bear on violinists
such as the American Hilary Hahn or the Korean-born Sarah Chang, who began
performing as young as Benedetti. And, had Benedetti been German or
Russian, such notions would have been unthinkable. "It is very strange,"
Benedetti remarks. "Sometimes people almost ask, 'Why are you not doing pop
music?' My answer is, 'Why should I? I'm a classical musician! That's what
I do, that's what I love and there shouldn't be any pressure on me to
change that. I'm not rejecting or rebelling against anything. I'm just
being myself."

Benedetti first encountered a violin thanks to a gifted violin teacher at
school and her elder sister's enthusiasm for the instrument. They began
lessons together aged eight and four; her sister Stephanie is now studying
at the Royal College of Music. There was no music in the family, although
plenty of material advantages (including Benedetti's 1751 Guarneri violin)
came from their Italian father's success in the pharmaceutical industry.
But the girls were not surrounded by music, and there was no "pushy parent"
syndrome.

"It was always our own choice," Benedetti says. "I never thought twice
about picking up the violin and practising. On a few occasions, Mum had to
tell me that I ought to practise because otherwise I wouldn't be ready to
play in a particular concert or audition. But I always loved it."

She's proud, too, of her Italian heritage — "So much music has come from
Italy and most of the great violins were made there" — but now goes to
Italy less frequently. "We used to go skiing every year, until I was told
that I needed to be more careful about my hands. I haven't skied since.
That does annoy me, because I absolutely loved it."

Since leaving the Menuhin School, Benedetti has lodged in London with her
accompanist. Her family are unlikely to move south, she says: "I think
they're quite happy to let me live my own life. They know I work well when
I'm feeling more independent. I think that to live with my family might
hold me back slightly; I'm comfortable dealing with things myself and being
in control of what's going on." In any case, West Kilbride is too far from
the action — and especially from her teacher, the Polish violinist Maciej
Rakowski. What does he make of all the fuss? "Actually, he thinks it's
rather funny."

On Sunday [6 February], Benedetti will be among several leading violinists
performing at the Wigmore Hall in London in a concert entitled "A
Celebration of the Violin", in which she will play two new works written
for her. The event, presented by the music publisher Music Sales, will
launch the Wigmore Hall New Music Fund, a scheme to enable the hall to fund
new commissions.

One piece, Fragments for the Virgin, by the redoubtable John Tavener, will
receive its world premiere; the other is an arrangement by Craig Armstrong
of the Scottish song "My Love Is like a Red Red Rose". Armstrong is best
known for his work with the director Baz Luhrmann in films such as Moulin
Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet.

Benedetti made her Wigmore Hall debut last year and was bowled over by
playing at this legendary venue with its marvellous acoustic. "I played a
couple of notes and thought, 'This is absolutely incredible!' An acoustic
like that is a gift for a violinist. You can play as quietly as possible
and know that everybody will be able to hear you."

No less upmarket is her first CD, which she has recorded with the London
Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Daniel Harding. It features her
Szymanowski concerto, with the Po?me by Chausson, the new Tavener piece and
works by Massenet and Saint-Sa?ns. This meaty programme was a challenge for
a first recording. "It was a lot to get through in the time we had,"
Benedetti says. "I know that when I'm listening back to it, there'll be
things I'll be critical of in my playing. At my age, you're progressing and
developing, and aspects of your playing can become very different very
quickly. I have to accept that it's really just a snapshot of how I'm
playing right now — except that there are always going to be things like
that."

Benedetti is clearly not planning to rest on her laurels.

She also feels she has a mission to encourage young people towards
classical music. This spring, she tours UK schools in conjunction with the
Sargent Cancer Care for Children Practiceathon. "I'm passionate about
breaking down the categories of classical and pop music," she explains. "I
don't want to mix the two styles, but just to make children aware that
classical music is not so far away from pop music.

"A lot of youngsters are intimidated by listening to something that
requires real concentration. But by introducing children at a very young
age to this music as something positive, making it less of a foreign
language to them, you can show that it portrayed how people behaved, lived
and felt in the time it was written.

"You understand more of what's happening today when you understand more of
what happened then. Pop music is what people are attracted to listening to
right now, and I don't criticise it at all; I listen to pop music too. But
I'd like people to realise that you can appreciate both."

And after all that? "I don't have one fixed idea of how life is going to
go," she says. "I'm aware that people believe I'm going to be a solo
violinist, play in certain venues with certain conductors, and if it
doesn't happen then it looks disastrous. But the more playing I do, the
more exciting I find it — and as long as I still have that interest, I'll
continue playing and hopefully developing. And if I can have respect as a
violinist among the musicians I really respect, then I know I'll go to bed
and wake up a happy girl."

Benedetti is now looking forward to a tour of Scotland with the Edinburgh
Youth Orchestra and to the release of that first CD. And after that? The
sky is the limit.
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Nicola Benedetti plays in "A Celebration of the Violin", Wigmore Hall,
London WC1
([+44] 020-7935 2141; www.wigmore-hall.org.uk), on 6 February. Her CD is
out in April on DG.

Related Articles:
News: Deutsche Grammophon Signs Young Scottish Violinist Nicola Benedetti
Press Association [UK] - 24 January 2005
Violinist Nicola Benedetti Named BBC Young Musician of the Year [expired]
The Herald [Glasgow] - 5 May 2004