Kristof Barati is a Hungarian violinist and
teacher born (in Budapest) on May 17, 1979.
Although born in Hungary, he and his family spent a few years in
Venezuela (for reasons unknown) and he even began violin lessons there with his
mother at age 5. By age 8 he was giving
concerts with orchestras in Venezuela. I
don’t know at what point the family moved from Venezuela to Europe but several
sources state he performed in France at age 11.
Sometime after or before this, he relocated to Hungary to study at the
well-known Franz Liszt Academy. Exactly
what year that was is unknown to me. His
teachers at the academy were Miklos Szenthelyi and Vilmos Tatrai. By 1995, at age 16, he began entering violin
competitions at which he was very successful, placing either first, second, or
third at all of them. In 1996, he began
studying privately with a little-known professor of violin, Eduard Wulfson, in
Paris. Music critics frequently praise
his musicianship (artistry) in addition to his phenomenal technical
prowess. In addition to his world-wide
concertizing, he also takes part in important music festivals in Italy, France,
Switzerland, and elsewhere as a chamber music player. Barati’s discography is not yet extensive,
but his recordings of the first and second Paganini concertos are among the
best. His recording of the Mozart
concertos (all five) has also been very highly praised. Although he has played other very fine and
valuable violins, for about 14 years (from 2003), he played (and recorded with)
the Lady Harmsworth Stradivarius violin constructed in 1703. I don’t know if he is currently using that
instrument. He is known for being a very
strong chess player and avid photographer.
Barati has taught at the Sorbonne in Paris and at other venues as a
masterclass professor. Although he has
not (as far as I know) performed all 24 Paganini Caprices at a single recital,
he has performed all six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by Bach in one
(very lengthy) recital (in France, then again in Russia.) Here is a link to the entire recording of the
Mozart concertos, courtesy of Brilliant Classics recordings. Here is a YouTube video of a movement from
the Bach Sonata number 1.
