Tibor Varga

Tibor Varga was a Hungarian violinist and conductor born on July 4, 1921 (Heifetz was 20 years old.) Like so many other great violinists, he was a child prodigy. He studied with Carl Flesch and Jeno Hubay at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. Varga joined a select group of distinguished Hungarian violinists who came before him – Joseph Joachim, Leopold Auer, and Carl Flesch. He could play the Mendelssohn concerto (e minor) from age ten and began his recording career at age 13. At 14 he began concertizing in Europe. In 1947, at age 26, he moved to London and later became a British citizen. Nevertheless, he later (from 1955 on) spent a great deal of time in Germany and Switzerland. Varga worked with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors before starting a long teaching career. A music school he founded in Germany underwent several transformations before he died. A pupil of his became the first female member of the Berlin Philharmonic (1982.) Tibor Varga died in Switzerland on September 4, 2003, at age 82.