Kristóf Baráti facts for kids

Kristóf Baráti (born in 1979) is a talented violinist from Hungary. He is known for playing classical music around the world.

Kristóf Baráti's Early Life

Kristóf Baráti was born in Budapest in 1979. He grew up in a family that loved music. His mother played the violin, and his father played the cello. Kristóf started learning the violin from his mother. Later, he studied with Vilmos Tátrai, who started the famous Tátrai Quartet.

For a big part of his childhood, Kristóf lived in Venezuela. He started playing with important orchestras when he was only eight years old. When he was eleven, he even performed a special concert at a festival in France.

Later, Kristóf went back to Hungary to study music at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. In 1996, he began studying in Paris with Professor Eduard Wulfson. Professor Wulfson had learned from famous violinists like Yehudi Menuhin and Nathan Milstein. He taught Kristóf the high standards that his own teachers had shown him.

Kristóf Baráti's Performance Career

Kristóf Baráti has won many important awards at international music competitions. In 1995, he won first prize at a competition in Italy. The next year, in 1996, he won second prize at the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition. In 1997, he won third prize and the audience award at the Queen Elisabeth Competition. He was the youngest person to compete there!

In October 2010, Kristóf won the Sixth International Paganini Violin Competition in Moscow. This was a very big achievement. In 2014, he received the Kossuth Prize, which is Hungary's highest award for culture.

Kristóf often plays in Hungary with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, led by Iván Fischer. He also performs with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. He has played with many orchestras all over the world, too. Some of these include the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the NHK Symphony. He has worked with many leading conductors, such as Kurt Masur and Charles Dutoit.

Kristóf Baráti plays a very special violin. It is called the "Lady Harmsworth" violin. It was made in 1703 by a famous maker named Antonio Stradivarius. The Stradivarius Society of Chicago let him use this amazing instrument.

Kristóf Baráti's Recordings

Kristóf Baráti has recorded many albums, sharing his music with people everywhere. Here are some of his recordings:

• Ravel: Violin sonata no. 2; Bartók: Solo violin sonata; and Bowen: Piano sonatas no. 5. With Severin von Eckardstein (piano). (2007)
• Paganini: Violin concertos 1 & 2. With Eiji Oue, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover. (2009)
• J. S. Bach: Six sonatas and partitas for solo violin (2010)
• L. van Beethoven: Complete Violin and Piano Sonatas, with Klara Würtz (2012)
• Eugene Ysaye: Six Sonatas for solo violin (2013)
• Paganini: Violin Concertos 1 & 2, with NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Eiji Oue (conductor). (2014)
• Brahms: Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano, with Klára Würtz (piano). (2014)
• Korngold: Violin Concerto and Violin-Piano Sonata; Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.35; Violin Sonata in G Major, Op.6, with Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Otto Tausk (conductor), Gábor Farkas (piano). (2015)
• The Soul of Lady Harmsworth (2016)
• W. A. Mozart: Complete Violin Concertos (2017)