Francesca Dego

Francesca Dego is an Italian violinist, writer, and teacher born in Lecco, Italy, in 1989.  (Lecco is about 20 miles north of Milan, Italy, and about 10 miles east of Lugano, Switzerland.)  She is an ultra-Romantic artist known for her iconic interpretations of Nicolo Paganini’s music.  Her debut album (for Deutsche Gramophone) was a recording of Paganini’s 24 Caprices, played on the same Guarneri violin which Ruggiero Ricci used on the very first recording (of the unaccompanied version) of the Caprices, a Guarneri del Gesu from 1734.  That Guarneri was her instrument for many years.  She possesses a very brilliant technique (it has been described as flawless), but her approach is often an operatic one, providing dramatic and poetic sensitivity to everything she plays.  She has stated that violinists often treat Paganini’s concertos like showpieces when in fact, they are infused with vocal drama.  As can be expected, she has toured the world several times and played with every major orchestra.  Dego began violin lessons at age 4 with her father, a writer, journalist, and college professor.  For unknown reasons, the family moved to San Diego, California, when Dego was age 5 and there she studied with Michael Tseitlin at the Fairbanks School of Performing Arts.  It was also there that she made her solo debut at age 7, playing Bach’s first violin concerto.  (A recording or video of that performance may exist, but it’s not posted on the internet.)  A while later, possibly in 1998, at age 9, the family moved to Milan where she graduated from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, having there studied for several years with Daniele Gay, whom she holds in high esteem.  She also studied at the Stauffer Academy in Cremona, the Siena Chigiana Academy (in Siena), and the Royal College of Music in London.  Her teachers have included Salvatore Accardo, Itzhak Rashkovsky, and Schlomo Mintz.  Dego was invited to record on Paganini’s famous Guarneri violin in 2019.  After Paganini’s death, the violin had never been played for more than a few minutes at a time until Dego was granted the distinction of recording, in the span of several days, an entire CD with it.  In various interviews, Dego describes in detail the experience of the recording sessions with the violin, which included a security team of six people, posted around her at all times, including during a recital in Venice.  Dego’s discography is not yet very extensive but it includes 15 CDs – two of those CDs are devoted to chamber music (trios and quartets) and two are devoted to the music of Ferruccio Busoni, including his violin concerto.  She has recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas on three CDs.  Dego has also championed (and recorded) the violin concerto of Friedrich Wolf (better known as Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari), a concerto (published in 1944) which was dedicated to the nearly forgotten violinist Guila Bustabo.  Here is a complete recording of the concerto.  Interestingly, Dego has not commercially recorded the concertos of Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, or Sibelius, although they have been in her repertoire for many years - you can, however, find her live recordings of them on YouTube with different orchestras.  She has recording sessions scheduled for June, 2026, but I don’t know which works she will be recording.  Here is Dego’s recording of Paganini’s 4^th Caprice, considered the most difficult out of the 24.  In addition to being gifted with the looks of a fashion model (Versace provides gowns for her performances), she is also a writer, contributing articles to music periodicals – Strings Magazine, The Strad, Suonare News, and Musical Opinion are among them.  She has also written a book titled Tra leNote (Among the Notes) but I don’t know if it has been translated.  She is now based in London and plays a Francesco Ruggeri violin from 1697.  Here is one quote among many: “My dream is to always be able to work with orchestras and colleagues who inspire me and make it possible to create something special on stage.” 
 

Sophie Heinrich

Sophie Heinrich is a German violinist, writer, and teacher known for being the first female concertmaster of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (2019 to 2023.)  Prior to that engagement, she was the concertmaster of the Berlin Comic Opera Orchestra (2012 to 2019.)  The Berlin Comic Opera Company produces operas, light operas, ballets, concerts, and musicals and is known for being very innovative.  She has also served as concertmaster in other German orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Bavarian State Opera (one of Carlos Kleiber’s favorite orchestras), and the Dresden State Orchestra.  Although she has concertized and taught classes in the U.S., Asia, and South America, Heinrich’s career has for the most part been spent in Europe.  Her webpage is easy to find on the internet.  She began her violin studies at age 4 but I don’t know who her first teacher was.  She later studied at the Hanns Eisler school in Berlin with Antje Weithaas (Director of the Joseph Joachim Violin Competition in Hanover); at the Lubeck University of Music (which is about 150 miles northwest of Berlin) with Thomas Brandis (former concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic and pupil of Max Rostal); and received additional instruction from Reinhard Goebel (at Austria’s Mozarteum), Lothar Strauss (concertmaster of the State Orchestra of Berlin), Gidon Kremer, Midori, and the Artemis String Quartet.  For a time (approximately 2010 to 2017), she was Thomas Brandis’ assistant in Lubeck.  Heinrich has won top prizes at various violin competitions, including the Leopold Mozart competition in 1999, and the Max Rostal Competition in 2002.  She was awarded the Possehl Music Prize in Lubeck in 2008.  Besides concertizing as a soloist and chamber music player, Heinrich currently teaches at a private music school in Feldkirch, Germany, the Stella Vorarlberg Private University.  She is also the leader of the string section at the Grafenegg Academy, located about thirty miles from Vienna.  The Academy takes place during the summer at Grafenegg Castle and involves classes in various disciplines in music.  It is open (via audition) to young musicians from all over the world.  Heinrich’s emphasis in teaching is the encouragement of female leadership.  She is, as are most violinists, fluent in three languages.  She has said that her Bible is Bach, her soul is Haydn (and Mozart), and her passion is Tango.  (Incidentally, other classical violinists who love dancing are: Tai Murray, Maxim Vengerov, Stefan Milenkovich, Rusanda Panfili, and Andrew Sords.  Violinists from the past who, in addition to being musicians were also professional dancers, are Jean Marie Leclair and Joseph de Bologne.)  Here is one of Heinrich’s YouTube videos of a recent concert featuring the popular Mozart Turkish concerto.  Heinrich has played a Stradivari violin from 1698, a G.B. Guadagnini from 1753, and a modern violin by David Bague, a well-known luthier from Barcelona.  (Leonidas Kavakos and Ruggiero Ricci also own violins by this violin maker.  Bague has said that he aspires to create instruments to which nobody can be indifferent, which I think is a very noble attitude toward his craft.)

Alfred Dubois

Alfred Dubois was a Belgian violinist and teacher born (in Brussels) on November 19, 1898.  He is one of many brilliant violinists who enjoyed wide recognition during his lifetime but was (undeservedly) relegated to the realm of forgotten artists after his death.  (The 1953 edition of Grove’s Dictionary does not mention him.)  Many of his recordings were made prior to the high-fidelity era and were not until recently released as remastered CDs.  They are now easy to find on the internet.  It has been said that his recordings of Bach and Franck works have rarely been equaled.  Understandably, during his career, he was more famous as a teacher than as a concert violinist.  I don’t know who his first teachers were, but it is known that Dubois entered the Royal Conservatory in Brussels in 1910 – he was 12 years old.  His main teacher there was Alexandre Cornelis.  (Cornelis is said to have composed piano accompaniments to the 42 famous Kreutzer etudes for violin.)  Dubois graduated in 1913 (at age 15) but continued to study with Cornelis until Cornelis’ death in 1917 - another four years.  It has been said that he also studied with Eugene Ysaye afterward although some people dispute that.  (When Ysaye died in 1931, Dubois took his place teaching at the conservatory.  He also played at Ysaye’s funeral that year.)  Dubois won the Vieuxtemps Prize in 1920.  He then embarked on a solo career – he was twenty-one years old.  He played in the Trio of the Court of Belgium from 1925 onward (with pianist Emile Bosquet and cellist Maurice Dambois.)  He began teaching at the Royal Conservatory in 1927 – he was 29 years old.  He taught there until the day he died.  He also formed a duo with pianist Marcel Maas with whom he toured the U.S. in 1938.  During the war, Dubois played in the Artis Quartet with Arthur Grumiaux on second violin, Robert Courte on viola, and Robert Maas on cello.  It is widely reported that the quartet did not play for German officials during the war (Belgium was a neutral country), but I find that hard to believe.  One source states that he spent the war years in France.  After Dubois died, his pupil, Grumiaux, took his place at the conservatory – he had already been serving as Dubois’ assistant for eight years.  Having been regarded as an extraordinary teacher, Dubois served on violin competition juries often.  Here is an audio file from YouTube in which Dubois plays the Vieuxtemps concerto number five.  You might find his tone resembling Heifetz’ sound, with very precise rhythmic control and superb intonation.  It has been said that Dubois was also a skilled violin maker although I don’t know where any of his violins are.  He may have played a Stradivarius violin made in 1667 and another from 1713, but that is not at all certain.  Alfred Dubois died (in Brussels) on March 24, 1949.  He was 50 years old. 

Daniel Garlitsky

Daniel Garlitsky is a Russian violinist, composer, arranger, singer, and teacher born (in Moscow) on September 8, 1982.  In addition to being a classical violinist, he is well-known for playing jazz violin in various jazz combos.  He is frequently seen playing with Duved Dunayevsky, jazz guitarist based in Paris, France, who hearkens back to the days and style of Django Reinhardt.  Some have said that Garlitsky specializes in old style jazz, referencing the days of Eddie South, Stephane Grapelli, and Joe Venutti, though that is a much too narrow description of his artist profile.  He does, however, dress in the style of the times of the old jazz players when he performs jazz concerts, saying that modern suits make him look “like a security agent.”  He says the fashion helps project the charm of the old era of jazz so it’s like part of the show, providing a suitable backdrop for the music itself.  Garlitsky’s playing has been described as “exciting, elegant, subtle, and majestic, displaying incredible precision, character, and a pure sound."  Here is a video of a well-known jazz song – Minor Swing – featuring Garlitsky’s improvisational skills.  Violin players reading this will note that his bow hold and his bowing style is very similar to that of Heifetz.  Garlitsky began his violin studies at age 6 with his father (Boris Garlitsky, a respected violinist in Russia who served as concertmaster of the London Philharmonic for a time) using the violin method book written by his (Daniel’s) grandfather, Mikhail Garlitsky, a violin study method book widely used in Russia which is based on the study of scales and arpeggios, something that Heifetz and Paganini highly valued.  He was soon thereafter enrolled at the Gnessin school for gifted children in Moscow, where he also studied piano.  At age 9 (1991), he moved to France with his family, where he began studies at the Lyon Conservatory.  In 1999, he became a student at the National Conservatory for Music and Dance, graduating three years later.  He then immediately began concertizing around Europe and sat in as concertmaster with various orchestras as well.  Here is a video from early in his career when he served as leader of a famous European chamber ensemble.  Garlitsky was also seriously interested in harmonic theory and composition and, in addition, studied early music performance practices.  While doing all this, he encountered the field of jazz and swing music in Paris.  Later, he was invited to teach at the Paris Conservatory, but I don’t know whether he still teaches there.  One source says that his career actually took a 180 degree turn and so he now devotes almost all his time to jazz gigs, composing, and arranging. He is the composer of several movie soundtracks and has arranged songs for pop stars. His itinerary has taken him on tour to the U.S., Europe, and Asia.  He plays a modern violin made for him by Jacques Fustier in 2003 although he also plays a Joseph Guarnerius (son of Andrea Guarnerius and father of the famous “del Gesu” Joseph Guarnerius) from an unknown year of construction.  Among Garlitsky’s teachers are Igor Volochine, Rainer Kussmaul, Matis Vaitsner, Pierre Aimard, and Glenn Dicterow.