Kennedy walks out of Royal Albert Hall show

Nigel Kennedy, the publicity-hungry and football-obsessed violinist, has walked out of a planned performance at the Classical Brit awards following a row with the event's organisers. Kennedy, 51, had planned to perform a piece by Mozart or Beethoven at the event, which takes place this evening at the Royal Albert Hall. But he fell out with the Brits committee after it insisted he could only play a "pop song length" composition, a move he might have applauded in his old enfant terrible days.

The shenanigans have left the musician, who in addition to producing a number of best-selling albums made headlines with his attacks on the stuffiness of the classical music world, feeling bruised and not a little paranoid. "I am mindful that a few people might have wanted to hear me and have been prevented from doing so by amateur politicians beyond my control," he says, adding that the organising committee included representatives of rival record companies who felt "threatened" by his presence at the event.

"Having just finished rehearsing, it had become clear that this was going to be one of my best performances of that music, not just musically but as a visual TV spectacle as well," he adds modestly.

The organisers, playing down the matter, said: "It is regrettable that Nigel Kennedy will no longer be performing. Nigel is a great artist with a unique vision, but artistic differences have proved insurmountable."