Yitzhak Perlman is celebrated by many as one of the greatest classical violinists of the twentieth century. Overcoming polio and its crippling effects, Perlman was a distinguished musician in his native Israel prior to entering his teens. He traveled around the world performing and teaming with other great musicians and he has brought a new style, individuality and technical ability to classical music and the violin.
Perlman was born on August 31, 1945 in Tel Aviv, and he wanted to be a violinist after hearing a concert performed on the radio when he was a mere three-years-old.
When Perlman was four-years-old, he was stricken with polio, which would forever leave him disabled. He continued to practice for the full year it took for him to recover and was soon able to walk using the aid of leg braces and crutches.
In 1958, at the age of 13, Perlman was brought to New York City, by the Ed Sullivan TV Show for two performances during the show’s “Cavalcade of Stars.” His rendition of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee and Wieniawski’s Polonaise Brillante made Perlman a star in America and he soon decided to stay for good.
Listen now to a performance done many years later as Mr. Perlman plays the amazing concerto by Jean Sibelius:
