“When Itzhak Perlman was three years old, he asked his parents for a violin because he heard one on the radio,” writes Tom Huizenga on Monday’s (8/31) National Public Radio’s Deceptive Cadence site. “A year later he contracted polio, leaving his legs paralyzed but his determination undaunted. Americans first became aware of the young Tel Aviv native when he performed on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958 at age 13. His teacher at Juilliard, Dorothy DeLay, knew that Perlman stood out. He was ‘on a kind of creative high that he never let up,’ she said. It wasn’t long before Perlman’s elegant, luminous tone, and affable personality propelled him to the top. He’s won 16 Grammys, three Emmys, and the National Medal of the Arts. Today Perlman turns 70. To celebrate, we’ve collected videos that trace the arc of a singular career.” Video and audio recordings linked in the article include Perlman’s 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, a 1978 performance of Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto with Seiji Ozawa at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a 1980 performance on Sesame Street, and a 2010 violin class at the Perlman Music Program.
Posted August 31, 2015
