PINCHAS ZUKERMAN once said he was born to be a violinist, but it's easy to imagine him in another life as a movie actor. Lantern-jawed handsome and brimming with easy charm, the Israeli musician and conductor carries the sort of star wattage and charisma normally associated with Hollywood than the sometimes musty world of classic music.
Zukerman knows a little about Hollywood, after a 13-year marriage to actress Tuesday Weld. His 'let's not go there' look suggests it wasn't always a happy experience. These days, he travels the world with wife No3, beautiful South African-born cellist Amanda Forsyth, who will be performing with him in Hong Kong this week.
Good-looking and outrageously talented: it hardly seems fair. A former student of the late great violinist Isaac Stern and a graduate of New York's Juilliard School, Zukerman has been described as a genius whose 'technically impeccable' and 'sensuous' violin playing sounds like 'liquid gold'. 'His sound is utterly inimitable,' wrote one critic.
'Liquid gold - I love that description,' he says with a laugh. 'I've had a journey of almost 50 years. I started playing on stage at 10 and I'm now almost 60.' The 57-year-old, known to his friends as Pinky, gives a 'what can you do' shrug. 'I work my ass off. I'm adamant about aspects of music-making. I don't screw around. Mediocrity is poison.'
The pursuit of perfection has earned Zukerman a reputation as a demanding taskmaster, both as a teacher (he's credited with helping to launch the career of, among others, Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts) and as director of the Canada National Arts Centre Orchestra. 'Practise, practise, practise,' he once said of the secret to success. 'It's what I learned most from Isaac Stern. When you see talent, you have got to nurture it. I will step through fire for talent.'
But he's equally tough on himself, says Forsyth. 'He plays every day, without fail, even on holiday. I only do what is necessary at the time. But it doesn't matter what is happening, he is always playing.'