Dumay, Kremer and violin curiosities

What a curious species the human is. It struck me the other day, watching the Belgian virtuoso Augustin Dumay lead the English Chamber Orchestra from the violin. How did we come up with this instrument, strings stroked by a haired bow, this box of precise elegance and dimensions, only certain mixtures of wood appropriate, all to make a sound?

Dumay (top) has a peculiarly personal and seemingly loving relationship with his violin, hugging it close to his cheek. His is an extraordinarily sweet sound. Last night I saw the Latvian Gidon Kremer, who has a knack of making everything sound twenty-first century. He's much more of a tuck-it-under-the-chin guy (bottom picture), much more cerebral, though he managed to click his heels and dance to the jig of his Kreisler encore.

Dumay worked the trick of having my eyes smart with tears on his opening notes. The same magic worked at last night's concert a tLondon's Queen Elizabeth Hall, though not conjured by Kremer who left me admiring but unstirred. I was responding to the piano playing of Oleg Maisenberg. I always delight in Schubert's piano accompaniments, the violin pretty much a fill-in for me last night, Maisenberg's face a veritable cartoon show of his appreciation for different elements of the music, his mouth pursing and cooing.