Who were or are the stars of our musicians? Irina Pak, Frank Sanderell and Ursula Sarnthein reveal their favourites.
"I never had stars in mind in the classic sense and I wasn't a fan of certain people either. I even called my mum to make sure I hadn't forgotten someone. But she doesn't remember them either. I grew up in Siberia, as a so-called child prodigy. The violin was my life from the very beginning. It brought me to the stage, and the stage is still the most powerful tool for me today - it gives me everything I need. Perhaps the violin and the stage really were my 'stars' back then.
I would like to name my parents as my first and most important role models. They were my inspiration and still are today. My mum and my sister introduced me to music and the violin. Later came my teachers and professors, including Zakhar Bron, who had a huge influence on me musically and personally.
Music itself was my world. Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Tchaikovsky, Paganini, Bach - everything I played as a child moved me deeply. However, it wasn't the composers that were important to me, but the music itself.
We had a lot of records at home, my father wasn't a musician, but he loved music. I grew up with the sounds of David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan and Isaac Stern - I often listened to their recordings. Pop and rock music was also present: ABBA, the Beatles, Pink Floyd - we had it on all the time. Perhaps they were also my 'stars' in their own way when I listened to 'Dancing Queen' or 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!'. Incidentally, I once played an ABBA set at tonhalleCRUSH, in the appropriate outfit of course! To this day, I have no need for stardom. I find my inspiration in everyday life, in the people around me. There are so many people who impress me with their actions, their attitude or their energy - they are my stars."
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"Who are my idols? Five names come to mind straight away. When I think about why they are exactly these five, I find one thing in common above all: truthfulness! They are all people who say what they have to say without their ego or hidden motivations taking centre stage.
The first is Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell. I have read almost everything by him, although he impresses me less as a novelist than as a passionately cool thinker and essayist. He could write just as soberly and clearly about the perfect preparation of a cup of tea as he could about his experiences fighting the fascists in the Spanish Civil War or about his life without any money in Paris and London.
Pablo Casals, my number two idol, was also an opponent of Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Even as a schoolboy, I was just as fascinated by the nobility and freedom in his interpretation of the Bach Suites as I was by his commitment to peace and democracy.
The third name is that of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Hardly anyone has gone as far in song singing as he has, and yet it was never an end in itself. That's what links him to Janine Jansen, the fourth person on my list: I can't believe that she can play so uncompromisingly - and yet never lose control at any moment.
My fifth idol is Domenico Dragonetti, a double bass player in the 18th century who was an incredible virtuoso, but who, unlike Paganini, did not cater to the sensationalists as a travelling soloist, but was primarily engaged as an ensemble player. I came across him through my teacher Klaus Stoll, who owned an instrument from Dragonetti's collection and was a very similar type - I should actually put him as number six on my list.
And then I just remembered my unfortunately retired car mechanic Hans Schneebeli. I always came out of his workshop happier than when I went in. And I'll never forget how he once said to me: 'You're quite ok for a German'."
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"If being a fan means hanging posters on the walls, then I was never a fan of anyone. But if you can be a fan of an 18th century composer, then I probably was - as a primary school pupil: I was so taken with a biography of Mozart for children that I imagined what it would be like if he came to visit in the present day and what I would show him, from the light switch to the telephone.
My earliest 'living' performer idol was Itzhak Perlman. When I was about eleven years old, I bought a music cassette with his recording of a Paganini concerto for a long saved-up 27 Deutschmarks. At the time, I was totally fascinated by virtuosity and for a long time I thought it was the most important thing about playing the violin. Now I'm impressed by something completely different.
A key moment for me was when I once heard Mendelssohn's 'Italian Symphony' with Nikolaus Harnoncourt - I knew then that this was the direction I wanted to move in: this lively, expressive music-making, the intense, unconditional search for what the composer might have meant in his time. I have been a fan of historical performance practice ever since. Unfortunately, I have never played under Harnoncourt.
How fortunate that there are more musicians like him and that we can work with them! I am certainly a fan of Giovanni Antonini, Franz Welser-Möst and Janine Jansen - and many others!
An important non-musical role model for me was my father. He was an incredibly friendly person who got on well with everyone, but who could also speak his mind at the crucial moment - and always respectfully and objectively - when it was necessary. He clearly stood up for what he felt was right: I really admired that."
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