人称小提琴是魔鬼用以蛊惑人心的名器，足以煽动天雷燎燃地火於股掌之间。自帕格尼尼以降，驰骋於弓弦之间的名家们以迥然迴异的风格与技法挑战此一乐器的所有可能，发展出与钢琴对列为王者之姿的浩然轨迹。 　　本片详实而中肯的记录了二十世纪小提琴巨匠的一脉相承与艺术面向，丰沛而深入的凿痕纪实与多样侧写使您在欣赏了无数的演奏与唱片赏析经验后得以重新省视那源源不绝的音乐能量是如何的起源。对於亟欲在2个小时内窥尽音乐史上此一绝代乐器之尊所勾勒的重重巨峰者，这是绝佳的入门之钥。一如华纳古典所精心筹画的「大指挥家的艺术」(The Art Of Conductors)、「歌唱家的艺术」(The Art Of Singers)等系列影音瑰宝巨藏，本片中仍然不以特定人物为主轴，而是以广泛而整齐的搜罗纳入几乎面面俱到的巨星身影。从自神童之姿而起的曼钮因的莫札特演绎为Introduction导入，进而可以窥见北国巨雄欧伊史特拉夫浑然昂扬的俄式挥洒。而极大的篇幅则灌注於世纪不可争的第一交椅海飞兹的撼动寰宇身采，其传奇的帕格尼尼24首随想曲的历历如目，1945年於卡内基厅的柴可夫斯基协奏曲之吉光片羽，这是在有声遗产之外令爱乐者如获至宝的前所未有体验，而由俄式体系发軔进而征服全美的密尔斯坦，其尊贵而浑厚的风华则在将近10分鐘的巴哈奏鸣曲与布拉姆斯协奏大作的经典篇章中豁然呈现。其餘入列者如易沙意、克莱斯勒、史坦等举世同仰的巨人皆能串联触动您的全新影音经验。同时难能可贵的是本片在小提琴乐器的传奇家族史特拉底瓦里与瓜纳里的引介以及有关小提琴技法和风格评析上皆有相当程度的著墨，做为一部无可挑剔的旷世通鑑可谓实至名归。　

A film written and directed by Bruno Monsaingeon. Drawing on archival performance footage and interviews, The Art of Violin evokes the vast panorama of the world of the violin in the 20th century and its most outstanding performers. It is hard to express the explosions of joy occasioned by the discovery of long sought-out but undreamed-of archives, such as some silent - and later resynchronised - film footage, or the few brief moments of Chausson's Poeme played by Ginette Neveu, the silent yet moving (in every sense of the word)images of Kreisler and Ysaye, the awe of a young Menuhin, the superb single camera shot of David Oistrakh performing the cadenza from Shostakovich's First Concerto. Contributions from Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel, Hilary Hahn, Laurent Korcia, Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, and Mstislav Rostropovich, Produced by Pierre-Olivier Bardet & Stephen Wright.