This Is Your Life: Nigel Kennedy

Nigel KENNEDY (1956-)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE – Nigel Kennedy, violinist, was surprised by Michael Aspel during a presentation of a gold disc at the Abbey Road EMI recording studios in London.

Nigel, who was born into a musical dynasty in Brighton, had his first piano lesson at age three and won a scholarship at age seven to the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music, where, having switched to playing the violin, became an apparent prodigy with the instrument.

In 1977, after three years of study at the Julliard School in New York, he made his debut as a soloist at the Royal Festival Hall, which led to a dazzling decade, playing with every major British orchestra, a season with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1980 and several world tours. Through his distinctive style, he made classical music cool and became known as the pop virtuoso of the violin.

"Oh no! That's outrageous man! Dear me - it's too much man! Holy cow - this is a serious occasion, isn't it? I didn't know I had a life til you came here!"

programme details...

Edition No: 778
Subject No: 767
Broadcast date: Wed 14 Mar 1990
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Tue 6 Mar 1990
Venue: Teddington Studios
Series: 30
Edition: 21
Code name: Bow

on the guest list...

Scylla - mother
Duncan - stepfather
Liz - sister
Brix Smith - partner
Jeff Green
John Stanley
Gary Lineker
Michelle Lineker
Diz Disley
Dave Heath
Julian Lloyd Webber
Zohra Lloyd Webber
Kate Bush
Mark King
Mike Lindup
George Martin
English Chamber Orchestra
members of Aston Villa FC team
Yehudi Menuhin
Stéphane Grappelli
Ken Russell

production team...

Researcher: Mandy Nixon
Writer: Roy Bottomley
Directors: Brian Klein, John Birkin
Associate Producer: John Graham
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related page...

Classical Life

a symphony of subjects

Screenshots of Nigel Kennedy This Is Your Life

Nigel Kennedy recalls his experience of This Is Your Life in his book, Always Playing...

The actual release of the Four Seasons coincided with me being away for the vital six weeks on an American tour, so strategy was critical. Really quite big sums of money were risked on the promotion, which ultimately must have been Rupert's decision, and these were carefully used by both classical and Barry's gang on posters, adverts, things like that. A great deal of attention was I think put into reassuring the record shops that everyone meant business. After all, most of them would normally only stock tiny quantities of one or two classical releases. Thanks to brilliantly timed PR, the whole release period stayed sharply in focus - even though I wasn't even in the country - and I gather that as the ball really got rolling the two press offices were in the unfamiliar position of not trying to procure interest, but rather building up lists of approaches to send over to us for decisions. One thing bred another, the PR built confidence, shops displayed more and more copies, the record company believed the impossible - I had gone straight to number one in the classical charts, though that hardly represents huge sales: 15,000 sales in a given year was the equivalent of a Michael Jackson-type record success in the pop world.

I think John was probably most rigid over television exposure: he was adamant we must control the timing of my appearances and certainly, looking back on the shape of that period, there was another major appearance always on the horizon to reignite the record company and the shops. The Prince's Trust concert, the Royal Command, the BRIT Awards, our own Seasons special, This Is Your Life, the chat shows... The result of this strategy created unheard-of sales for a concerto. I'm not really into statistics, but I've still got a fax telling me of five-day sales of over 45,000 copies just for England, which works out at someone buying the record every 30 seconds of every shopping hour, of every shopping day. You can imagine just how special that felt to me, just seeing that many people getting into it.

I suppose everyone who's written a book and been on This Is Your Life is bound to be a bore with their story. It really was a total shock when it happened to me. As far as I was concerned, I'd been told by John that there was to be a surprise BMI drinks party so that Rupert could present the pair of us with double-gold discs: it was to be quite a short affair held in Studio One at Abbey Road immediately after the end of work. The awards were due to us and the location and time were absolutely natural. Afterwards John and I, my girlfriend Brixie and Julia (John's wife) were to have a celebratory curry together and they would drop us back at the flat afterwards - hence the suggestion that we should get a car to bring us to the studios. John had explained that there would be some press there for the awards picture itself, and that the EMI in-house video cameras were recording the speeches, and maybe a short blast on the fiddle if I'd bring it along so they could send the overseas countries news of the latest success. Everything fitted together perfectly, and Brixie and I turned up roughly on time to be greeted by a pretty full turnout of EMI and friends. There was a long table with drinks and snacks, and at the far end was a temporary stage built out of the risers used to place orchestras during recordings. There were one or two big banners and lots of gas-filled balloons with (I think) my name on them. There was all the usual meeting and greeting stuff, and then Rupert got up on stage and summoned us to join him. He talked for a few minutes about the then scale of the success and said nice words about John and gave him his award. I then vaguely remember John making me put down the glass I was holding, and Rupert saying. 'Look into my face, watch my mouth - this is a special award,' or something like that, then I took the plaque and held it up to the clapping crowd. Everyone was really pleased I'd got it, and that seemed cool as most had been involved in the project, but instead of the applause and cheering dying away it got louder - so I thought. 'Keep holding it up and smiling.' What I didn't know was that Michael Aspel and a camera crew had come on stage behind me and he was standing there, Red Book in hand, waiting for me to notice. I was a bit disappointed not to get the book straight away, but he kept hold of it. After that things happened pretty quickly. I remember being worried about whether my great friend David Heath had been invited ... he had been. They kept me well away from everyone and we were rushed off in limos, complete with a production executive and a bottle of bubbly in each car, and once we reached the Teddington Studios even Brixle was marched off - and I was left with a makeup lady in an American camper in the parking lot. John, who (surprise, surprise) had been behind it all, was very briefly let through, just to warn me I might be expected to play an impromptu bit on the fiddle - and the rest lots of you probably saw on the small screen. Only a couple of those in the crowd at Abbey Road even knew about the surprise - it had even been kept from Brixie until the last moment in case it slipped out! Playing the show out with Vivaldi just seemed natural, but actually it prompted yet another surge in the shops. Something like a 250 per cent rise, Barry told me later. Whether you like the programme or not, it was a very special evening for me (the Villa team even tried a disgusting rendition of the Four Seasons), and for my family and friends. The actual programme goes by very quickly but Thames lay on a lavish private buffet party afterwards, with no restrictions on the amount of hospitality. The Thames TV team were very sweet about it being my party and they even replayed the show for us all to watch - while Jeff Green, Diz Disley, Alec Dankworth and myself had a jam session.

Scriptwriter Roy Bottomley recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, This Is Your Life: The Story of Television's Famous Big Red Book...

Nigel Kennedy was 'the punk virtuoso of the violin' when he had a chart-topping hit with 'Four Seasons'. He was receiving a gold disc award at the Abbey Road studios of EMI when Michael walked in with the Big Red Book.

His mother had moved from Brighton to the West Midlands when Nigel was eight, and he developed a life-long passion for Aston Villa. His girlfriend, Brix E Smith, told how she had spotted him wearing Villa boxer-shorts during a quick change at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

So we went over to Villa Park to see the whole team scraping away on violins. And the former child protégé - at seven he was at the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music - played the theme from Match of the Day to our audience on his priceless Stradivarius. It was much appreciated by England and Spurs striker Gary Lineker, who was there with his wife Michelle.

Yehudi Menuhin missed that particular contribution - he had to be in Pasadena, California, from where he greeted his former pupil.

Stéphane Grappelli had visited the school when Nigel was there, and we had film of them playing jazz violin together.

Michael thought he had struck a mildly discordant note when he said, 'You pay the price of all the world travelling with the failure of your marriage.'

Said Nigel: 'Thank you, man. Brilliant.' Then a few moments later, apparently just realising what Michael had said: 'What was that about my marriage again, mate?' But it was all good-natured ribbing.

'I wasn't going to mention it myself,' smiled Michael.

Nigel: 'It was written in, wasn't it?'

Before he found fame, when he was studying at New York's Juilliard School, Nigel made ends meet by busking on Fifth Avenue, usually outside Tiffany's, where he sometimes found fifty-dollar bills dropped in his busker's violin case. Back in London, and buying his Stradivarius on the never-never, he tried busking in Covent Garden, but was stopped by a security man who said to the violin virtuoso, 'Can't busk here without a licence, mate.'

Cellist Julian Lloyd Webber told us Nigel's playing had moved him to tears. And to prove that Nigel's appeal really is 'across the board', we brought in pop stars Kate Bush, and Mark King and Mike Lindup of Level 42.

George Martin, the man who put the Beatles on the map, said Nigel 'was like a breath of fresh air'. George had conducted a concert Nigel did in aid of the Prince's Trust at the NEC in 1989.

Series 30 subjects