TO WATCH Laurent Korcia perform is a powerful experience. His raw passion and spontaneity grab you from the outset. He is not simply playing the notes, he is living them and his violin becomes an extension of himself.
Korcia, 37, has been compared to the great violinists of a century ago such as Mischa Elman and Jan Kubelik. Like them, his performances are stamped with his own flamboyant style. This is a man who is setting standards, taking classical music to new heights.
In some, such talent might create a dangerously large ego, but Korcia has none of the brattish self-importance of other stars. As an interviewee he is charming, thoughtfully turning each question over before offering an earnest response. He is modest, sincere and immensely likable. The fact that he is good-looking and French is just the icing on a very fine cake.
Korcia's musical life began aged seven with a guitar. Within months he had mastered the fundamentals and dreamed of travelling the world, gypsy-like, with his guitar. It was a romantic notion, and not all that surprising given Korcia is a man of passion. But the gypsy wanderlust of a seven-year-old gave way to violin playing, which he took up when he was eight.
His teacher Charles Jarno was a former director of a transportation company who had retired in the south of France and, aged 70, decided to teach the violin. 'He gave me his incredible passion for music, which is even more, or at least as essential, as the technique,' says Korcia.
Jarno taught Korcia not only to play, he taught him to listen. They sat together for hours listening to classical music: violinists, pianists and singers.
'It's very important to listen to a lot of music, not just to play scales. When you start to play the violin it takes time before you enjoy what you do. Listening to the great violinists - it lights the desire,' he says.
