Had a plane trip many years ago gone the way violinist Nigel Kennedy wanted it to, the British classical music superstar may now have been shacked up with Aussie princess of pop Kylie Minogue.

Finding himself sitting next to Minogue and her mum on a flight in Australia, Kennedy hoped he’d be able to use his charm and powers of persuasion to land a date with the Aussie.

media_camera Kennedy is a big fan of the Aussie singer. Picture: Getty Images

But things didn’t quite go to plan.

“One time going on Ansett Airlines — when that existed — I sat next to her mum as well,” he says.

“I thought I might be able to curry a bit of favour there but it never worked.

“You can’t win them all.”

Kennedy, 60, who shot to fame with his game-changing 1989 recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, has always had a soft spot for Kylie, so much so that he named his prized instrument after the pint-sized singer.

“I love it that she’s small, beautiful and portable,” he says. “I called my violin Kylie because it was also small, beautiful and portable. I thought they had something in common: Nice curvy shape, sings nice and high.”

It’s this irreverent humour and laid-back attitude that makes Kennedy instantly likeable.

He’s a bona fide star but talking to him — F-bombs dropping left, right and centre and genuine laughter recounting tales of his past — feels more like a chat with a mate after a few beers at the pub.

media_camera The violinist sold more than three millions copies of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons when it was released in 1989.

Then there’s the infamous Nigel Kennedy style, the beloved (but worn to within an inch of its life) Aston Villa jersey, the self-cut spiky hair, stubble and, quite often, a pair of daggy tracksuit pants.

While this look has become part of Kennedy’s brand over the years, it is also a visual reminder that the musician does things his own way, an attitude that has ruffled many feathers of the classical music establishment over the past five decades.

His style, both musically and physically, irked the stuffy, traditional bureaucracy in the UK and Europe who weren’t comfortable with anything that didn’t conform to their textbook view of

the genre.

Despite that 1989 recording of The Four Seasons breaking countless records in the UK, selling more than three million copies and handing Kennedy a Guinness World Record for the highest-selling classical album in his home country, his record company refused to nurture and capitalise on the creative genius that had sparked a classical music revival.

media_camera Kennedy was so fed up with the classical music establishment in the UK he quit the genre for five years.

“It went very well and it sold a lot of copies but then the record company just suddenly — even though nobody had sold anything like that with classical before — just closed their vision and wanted more of the same type of stuff,” Kennedy recalls.

He says those pulling the strings at the label just wanted “me to turn out Vivaldi Eight Seasons and Vivaldi 12 Seasons blah blah blah. I found myself being strait-jacketed into one style of music so I gave up classical for about five years,” he says.

The break gave him a chance to focus on his own compositions and another project close to his heart — the music of Jimi Hendrix.

“That was the only way I could get to do my own music, by quitting the other s...,” he says. “I was in a position where I had sold a lot of albums and had enough dosh, to put it crudely, that I could stop and choose my own destiny rather than having to carry on as if I was on a factory line.”

Kennedy’s refusal to give in to the establishment opened the door for other artists to express music in their own way and forced a change in thinking.

media_camera Kennedy will be touring Australia at the end of this month.

“I think quite a lot of musicians’ attitudes have changed and therefore the bureaucracy of music has changed quite a lot as well,” he says.

“I do feel quite proud that I’ve impacted other musicians’ lives (so) that they don’t just have to be subservient to the classical status quo.”

Kennedy is heading to Australia later this month for a national tour, but it will also be a chance for him to catch up with several dozen family members who live here, including sister Erica who is also a brilliant violinist.

He has a deep affinity with the country and its people, believing them to be far more laid back and honest than his countrymen.

“It’s just such a wonderful country in many ways because people are more straightforward with each other,” he says.

“Quite often in England and even other parts of Europe there’s some kind of hidden agenda with people and people aren’t talking straight, so I love that about Australia, along with the more obvious things like the weather ... and that people can actually play cricket.”

Nigel Kennedy, Vivaldi: The New Four Seasons + dedications, Sydney Opera House, January 27 and 28

sydneyoperahouse.com