Eddie South (Edward Otha South) was an
American jazz violinist and bandleader born (in Louisiana, Missouri) on
November 27, 1904. He is known for
having achieved legendary status only after he died. It has been said that had he not been black,
he would have chosen a career in classical music. He began his violin studies at a very early
age and by age 10, was studying at the Chicago Music College, from which he
graduated, possibly in the year 1921. He
entered the world of jazz in 1921, with assistance from Darnell Howard (a leading jazz violinist of that era), playing
with Erskine Tate and Mae Brady. In
1923, he was musical director of Jimmy Wade’s Syncopators in Chicago. South's first recording came in that same year with Wade's Moulin Rouge Orchestra. He formed his own band, the Alabamians, in
1927. The group was named after the place they performed in, the Club Alabam, on the corner of Rush and Chicago Streets, a section of Chicago then known as Chicago's Bohemia. Along the way, South also worked
with bandleaders Charles Elgar, Henry Crowder, and Freddie Keppard, as well as
bassist Milt Hinton, and pianist Billy Taylor.
He toured Europe with this band between 1928 and 1930. Having arrived in Europe, he also studied at
the Paris Conservatory. While in
Budapest, Hungary, in 1929, South took a liking to Gypsy (Roma) music and
eventually made it a part of his improvisations. It is well-known that during a tour of Europe
in 1937, he performed and recorded with jazz legends Stephane Grappelli, Michel
Warlop, and Django Reinhardt (who famously played with his two usable fingers
only) in Paris. Among the tunes recorded was Bach's concerto for two violins - in jazz style, of course. Besides recording, he
also played on radio and television. From
1947 to 1949 he played in the big bands led by Earl Hines. South also worked in New York and Los
Angeles. Nevertheless, despite the
exposure he got from working with the biggest names in Jazz, as far as the
public was concerned, he stayed unknown for the remainder of his life. It has been said that his playing style
suffered from the strictures imposed by his classical training – it didn’t
swing sufficiently. He recorded for the
Chess and Mercury labels among others.
One of his last recordings was produced in 1951, though he last recorded
in 1959. YouTube has several audio files
of his playing, one of which you can hear here. That fascinating recording of the Bach Double concerto (for two violins) he did with Stephane Grappelli can be heard here. South died in Chicago on April 25, 1962, at age 57.
Alina Ibragimova is a Russian violinist born (in Polevskov) on September
28, 1985. She is known for playing on
modern as well as period instruments – equally well. She is also known for having played at Yehudi
Menuhin’s funeral in Westminster Abby in 1999, at age 13. She began her violin studies with her mother at
age four. She then entered the
well-known Gnessin Music School in Moscow at age five, studying under Valentina
Korolkova, a familiar name in Russia but not anywhere else. In 1996, at age ten, she relocated to London
with her family and began studying at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Her main teacher was Natalya Boyarskaya, also
known as Natasha Boyarsky. She spent six
years there then moved on to The Royal Academy of Music (Guildhall School of
Music) and finally the Royal College of Music, from which she graduated in the
summer of 2007. Her main teacher there
was Gordan Nikolitch. She was 21 years
old. She has been concertizing ever
since and has played with some of the major orchestras in the world. Along the way, she founded a quartet – the
Chiaroscuro Quartet – which plays on period instruments. The quartet does not play on a regular basis
since all of its members (Pablo Benedi, Emelie Hornlund, and Claire Thirion)
have independent careers. Ibragimova has
recently conducted the Academy of Ancient Music, the famous period instrument
ensemble based in England. Her exclusive record
label is Hyperion Records and her discography so far includes 9 CDs on that and the Wigmore Hall Live labels. She also, of course, has a
website, which contains extensive information about her, including all of her future engagements, which are considerable. YouTube has several videos of
her playing, one of which is here. Ibragimova
has played a 1738 Pietro Guarneri violin since 2006 – a violin provided her by
industrialist Georg von Opel. However, she is currently playing a 1775 violin by Anselmo Bellosio (a Venetian violin maker who died young), also provided by Mr. von Opel.
Cecylia
Arzewski is a Polish (some would say American) violinist and teacher born (in
Krakow, Poland) in 1948. She is known
for playing in some of the top U.S. orchestras as either Concertmaster or
Associate Concertmaster, namely the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony,
and the Atlanta Symphony. Although a
highly gifted orchestral violinist, her solo repertoire is very extensive – in
fact, as extensive as almost any concert artist’s. The tradition of the concertmaster-soloist
reaches as far back as William DeFesch and Leopold Mozart. More recent examples of this tradition are Rodolphe
Kreutzer, Ferdinand David, Joseph Joachim, Ferdinand Laub, Eugene Ysaye, Max
Bendix, Karl Halir, Theodore Spiering, Louis Persinger, Abram Shtern, Steven
Staryk, Albert Sammons, Hugh Bean, Calvin Sieb, Sydney Harth, Raymond Cohen, David
Nadien, Richard Burgin, Simon Standage, Frank Almond, and Glenn Dicterow. Arzewski began her violin studies in Poland at
age 5. One of her first teachers was
Eugenia Uminska at the Krakow Music Academy.
Four years later (1957), she and her family moved to Israel where she
was enrolled at the Tel Aviv Conservatory.
Her principal teacher there was Odeon Partos, a violinist I had never
heard of until now; he is better known as a Hungarian composer rather than
violinist. Arzewski later came to the
U.S (probably 1960, though the year is not entirely certain) and studied with
Ivan Galamian at Juilliard (New York) and Joseph Silverstein at the New England
Conservatory (Boston.) She also very briefly
studied under Jascha Heifetz and Joseph Gingold. She played in the Buffalo Philharmonic for
one season – 1969 to 1970. In 1970, at
age 22, she joined the first violinist ranks of the Boston Symphony. She then gradually moved up to the Assistant
Concertmaster position, a position she reached in either 1978 or 1985 – sources
differ. Subsequent to receiving a prize
at the Bach International Competition in Leipzig, she played a debut recital in
New York at Carnegie Hall in 1978. The
program consisted entirely of Bach unaccompanied violin works. From 1987 to 1990, she played as Associate
Concertmaster in the Cleveland Orchestra.
Her tenure as Concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony began in 1990 and
ended in 2008. She has, of course,
performed as soloist on many occasions with the Cleveland and Atlanta
Symphonies. She played the Wieniawski
concerto in her first appearance with the Atlanta Symphony in 1990 and the
Prokofiev second concerto in her last in 2003.
Today, she devotes herself to solo playing and is also the Artistic
Director of the North Georgia Chamber Music Festival. I do not know what violin she plays. There are several posts of her playing on
YouTube – here is one of them, the Strauss Sonata, said to be one of the best
violin sonatas ever written.
Edouard Lalo (Edouard Victoire
Antoine Lalo) was a French violinist, composer, and teacher born (in Lille,
France) on January 12, 1823. Some
sources – in fact, most sources – give his date of birth as January 27, 1823. Today, he is not remembered as a violinist,
but rather, as the composer of the famous violin concerto, Symphonie Espagnol
(1874, opus 21), a work which every concert violinist learns and plays and, if
they are lucky, records. It has been
said that his marriage to one of his young pupils when he was 42 inspired him
to write the Symphonie, though it actually was not written until nine years
later. In fact, he composed nothing
between the year he got married (1865) and 1873, the year he wrote his violin
concerto in F. As a child, Lalo studied
violin, cello, and piano at the Lille Conservatory. He left home at age 16 and entered the Paris
Conservatory. His father then disowned
him because he was firmly opposed to the idea that the teenager Lalo should
make music his profession. Nevertheless,
Lalo stuck it out and paid for his tuition at the Paris Conservatory by giving
lessons and playing in ensembles. At the
conservatory, his violin teacher was Francois Habeneck, one of the foremost
violinists and conductors of the day. Lalo
made his living by only playing and teaching privately until about age 50, when
he seriously entertained the idea of composing large-scale works. He had already been composing chamber music
for many years prior to this but his reputation as a composer was slowly acquired. He formed the Armingaud Quartet in either
1848 or 1855 (sources vary) in which he played viola at first then second
violin. Chamber music in France was not
much appreciated until about the late 1800s but Lalo’s quartet helped change
that. Early works of his were a Fantasy
for violin and piano (1848, opus 1), a piano trio (1851, opus 7), and a violin
sonata (1853, opus 12.) Among his major
compositions are three symphonies, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, an
opera, a ballet, and a piano concerto.
Other than the Symphonie Espagnol and the cello concerto, none of these
works is ever performed, except perhaps in France. However, the premiere of his opera in 1888,
was a huge success for Lalo. Trio Oriens
can be seen and heard on YouTube playing Lalo's first trio and Lynn Harrell can be
heard playing the cello concerto here. According to a usually-reliable source, Lalo owned and played a 1700 Matteo Goffriller violin. Only God knows where it is now. Lalo
died on either April 22 or April 23, 1892, at age 69.
Tivadar Nachéz was a Hungarian violinist, teacher, and
composer born (in Budapest) on May 1, 1859.
He began his violin studies at age 5, then later studied with the concertmaster
of the Budapest Opera, known to me only as Mr. Sabathiel. He was never a virtuoso of the first rank but
was nonetheless successful as a performer, arranger, and composer. He lived in England most of his life and even
became a naturalized English citizen.
While still a young boy, he was accompanied by Franz Liszt. In Berlin, he studied for three years with
Joseph Joachim - at the same time as Jeno Hubay - and privately in Paris with Belgian
violinist Hubert Leonard. He made formal
debuts in Hamburg and London in 1881. He
was 22 years old. He toured regularly -
and made friends with all the important musicians of his day - for the rest of
his life. Even as early as 1889, critics
who heard him expressed admiration for his musicianship but pointed out
technical deficiencies in his playing. An
indication of his limitations as a violinist can be gathered from his opinion
that Ernst’s arrangement of Schubert’s Erlkonig for solo violin was “so
difficult, in fact, that it should not be played.” He was quoted as saying that he often
practiced between 8 and 10 hours a day. He
performed his second violin concerto with the London Philharmonic on April 17,
1907. His best known works are probably
his edition of one of Vivaldi’s concertos for two violins – the one in a minor,
Opus 3, Number 8 – and his Gypsy Dances.
It has been said he used a Tourte bow previously owned by Heinrich
Ernst. He also owned several magnificent
violins, including a 1716 Stradivarius which I was not able to find on any list
of Stradivari violins. Nachez died in
Switzerland on May 29, 1930, at age 71.
