Mark Kaplan
Violinist

"The musicians I admire most tend to be selfless types for whom razzle-dazzle is clearly anathema; for them, the composer always comes first. Mark Kaplan is exactly that kind of violinist...a gripping performance of ever-increasing lyrical intensity."
The Strad

"The rhythm and colors brought out by the conductor were equaled only by the surpassing musicality and the beautiful technique of soloist Mark Kaplan." [Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Orchestre National de Lyon]
Figaro Lyon

"Kaplan made his case throughout with a rich, luminous tone quality that hung resonantly in the air; near-perfect intonation, even in the most treacherous multiple-stopped chords; expressive rubatos in the slower dances; sufficiently graceful rhythm in others. He could dig trenchantly into the Sonata No 2's great Fuga, finding the climaxes and crunching them with satisfying, robust attacks...these were formidable performances" [Bach: Solo Sonatas and Partitas]
Los Angeles Times

"The man of the moment (Schwarz in his first concerts with the RLPO since appointment was announced) was almost upstaged however in the second piece by violin maestro Mark Kaplan and his dazzling interpretation of one of the great violin pieces - Sibelius' violin concerto in D minor. It comes with the reputation of being a finger breaker but Kaplan's scintillating virtuosity gave us a real performance to remember. His technique was matched only by the crisp vivid resonate tones of his Stradivari violin in a performance of passion which drew gasps from the listeners." [Sibelius Violin Concerto, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gerard Schwarz]
Lancashire Evening Post


"The playing is splendid throughout, technically brilliant, musically expressive, full of variety, character, and idiomatic flair. Its high quality, together with the innovative pairing, gives this disc unusual interest." [Dohnanyi Violin Concerto No 2, Bartók Violin Concerto No 2, Orquestra Simfonica de Barcelona conducted by Foster Koch]
Strings

"Kaplan is as equally adept at premiering concertos by Elliott Carter and Marc Neikrug as performing standard repertoire and his understanding of stylistic subtleties underpinned his exciting yet ultimately moving playing. Being a formidable baritone inspired many of Barber’s elegant, elongated phrases and Kaplan’s attention to the weight and dynamics of each of them was impressive, as was his exquisite Bach encore."
Belfast Telegraph

 

Violinist Mark Kaplan has established himself as one of the leading violinists of his generation. He has played with nearly every major American Orchestra including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC, and the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Dallas and Houston. Currently a professor of Violin at UCLA, his flourishing career in Europe began in 1975 when he was asked to replace Pinchas Zukerman in a concert conducted by Lawrence Foster in Cologne. On that occasion the critic of the Koelnische Rundschau wrote: "One needs no gift of prophecy to foresee that Mark Kaplan will soon conquer the great musical centres of Europe." This led to engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic with Klaus Tennstedt -- launching his international career.

He has subsequently performed in all the principal European cities including London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Prague, Zurich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Milan as well as the Far East and Australia, and has collaborated with many of the world's foremost conductors, among them Ormandy, Tennstedt, Maazel, Masur, Dutoit, Bychkov, Comissiona, Conlon, Foster, Rattle, Salonen, Skrowaczewski, Slatkin, Gatti and Zinman. He has appeared regularly at the major summer festivals such as Aspen, Blossom, Chautauqua, Grant Park, Ravinia, Saratoga, Wolf Trap and Santa Fe.

Mark Kaplan's repertoire stretches from the baroque to the present day. Strongly committed to contemporary music, he gave the European premiere of Marc Neikrug's Violin Concerto in 1985 with the Hallé Orchestra and in 1995 he played the Elliott Carter Violin Concerto in Paris with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, conducted by David Robertson. He has recently performed the John Adams Violin Concerto with the Malmo Symphony Orchestra, the Ligeti Violin Concerto with the RAI Orchestra in Turin and recorded Nono Varianti for Violin and Orchestra. At the other end of the scale, his recitals regularly include works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert.

Mark Kaplan's first concerto recording of Paganini and Wieniawski violin concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra received impressive reviews both in the UK and abroad. He has also recorded Schubert works with David Golub, the solo works of Sarasate, and Bartok with Bruno Canino to much acclaim and a CD of Schumann sonatas with Anton Kuerti. His most recent recordings include Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 and Dohnanyi Violin Concerto No. 2, recorded with Lawrence Foster and the Orquestra Sinfonica de Barcelona for Koch International Classics and Nono Varianti with the Sinfonieorchester Basel under the baton of Mario Venzago. Last September saw the release of two new CDs for Koch International: Lalo Symphonie Espagnole and Juan Manen Concerto Espagnole and Berg and Stravinsky Violin Concertos recorded with the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

A dedicated chamber musician, he recently formed a new piano trio, the Weiss-Kaplan-Newman Trio with cellist Clancy Newman and pianist Yael Weiss. The ensemble is set to follow the legacy of the former Golub Kaplan Carr trio whose success throughout North America and Europe was echoed in the outstanding reviews from both performances and recordings.

Recent engagements include performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gatti (Berg), Helsinki Philharmonic conducted by Foster (Bartók), Netherlands Radio Philharmonic (Korngold), Aspen Festival Orchestra conducted by Zinman (Bartók), Hallé (Sibelius), Orchestre National de Bordeaux with Gunther Herbig (Stravinsky), Orchestre National de Lyon with Cambreling, Bartók with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Sibelius with both the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Schwarz) and Florida Philharmonic Orchestra (Silverstein). Last season he performed the Ligeti Concerto with RAI Torino, Walton with the Orquesta Sinfonica de RTVE in Madrid, Orquestra Sinfonica de Barcelona (Lalo) and recorded the Berg and Stravinsky Violin Concertos with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. This season he works with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Carlo Rizzi), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (Emmanuel Plasson) and makes several visits to Spain.

Mark Kaplan plays a violin made by Antonio Stradivari in 1685. It is named The Marquis after the Marchese Spinola, whose family owned the violin for several generations.

"Mark Kaplan was one of the orchestra's major finds, weaving through Bartok's Second Violin Concerto. Kaplan's pliant, free-ranging lines were a unifying force through a diverse score. Whether in tranquil duet with the woodwinds or moving from mysterious quarter-tones to blazing cadenza, this soloist could not be fazed...A winning encore of Bach's Gavotte en Rondeau, immaculately styled, was a refreshing sorbet after such a testing and rewarding main course."
New Zealand Herald