Achille
Rivarde (Serge Achille Rivarde) was a Spanish violinist, teacher, and writer
born (in New York) on October 31, 1865. He
is referred to in various sources as either a British, French, Spanish, and
even American violinist. Although he was
known to concertize in the U.S., he spent most of his time in Europe. He is now obscure but was well-known and
appreciated by many famous musicians of his day. He bore a resemblance to another Spanish
violinist: Pablo Sarasate. Although a
somewhat reliable source states that Rivarde studied with Henryk Wieniawski and
Jose White Lafitte, he would have had to do so privately and before he entered
the Paris conservatory to study with Charles Dancla in 1876, at age 11. Between 1860 and 1872, Wieniawski was in
Russia, then he was in the U.S. (on tour) between 1872 and 1875.
In 1875, Wieniawski started teaching in Brussels and began a tour of
Russia in 1879 during which he became ill, subsequently dying in early
1880. Jose White Lafitte was likewise
unavailable (in Paris) between 1875 and 1889 because he was either touring the
U.S. or teaching in South America. So,
the question is: when would these two violin virtuosos been available to teach
young Rivarde? My conclusion from the
circumstantial evidence is that he studied with these virtuosos while they were
touring the U.S. - between 1872 to 1875 and 1875 to 1876, respectively. Rivarde appears to have graduated from the
Paris Conservatory in July, 1879, at age 14.
The source mentioned above also states that Rivarde studied with Felix
Simon too although it does not say when or where. Felix Simon, concertmaster of the theatre
orchestra in Nantes, France, was Camilla Urso’s first teacher in (Nantes)
France so the possibility exists that Rivarde studied with him there, either
before entering the Paris Conservatory or after graduating. It is also possible that Simon had relocated
to the U.S. by (approximately) 1870 and little Rivarde would have been able to
study with him as a child of four or five.
In any case, at least one music dictionary states that Simon was
Rivarde’s first teacher so my conjecture is probably correct. In 1881, Rivarde left Paris and returned to the
U.S. He was still only 16 years
old. What he did here at that time is
unknown to me. One source says he gave
up violin playing entirely. In 1885, he
returned to France and became concertmaster of the Lamoureux Orchestra. He was 19 years old. The Orchestra had been founded by Charles
Lamoureux just three years previously. In
1891, Rivarde quit his post, possibly to concentrate on touring. In 1893, he and pianist Harold Bauer premiered
Frederick Delius' b minor violin sonata (an early work without number) in
Paris. His London debut came in 1894
and, in 1895, he gave the first English performance of Lalo’s Symphonie
Espagnol, presumably in London. On
November 17, 1895, he made his U.S. debut at Carnegie Hall (New York) playing Saint-Saens’
third concerto. The critic for the New
York Times praised him for his elegant style and beautiful, crisp tone. He was mentioned in The Strad magazine as
having “a superb tone, perfect technique, and great breadth of style.” On November 19, 1895, he played in Toronto,
Canada. On March 3, 1896, he played
Bruch’s second concerto (in d minor) with the New York Philharmonic with Anton
Seidl on the podium. In 1899, he was
appointed violin teacher at the Royal College of Music in London and thereafter
spent most of his time teaching. He
retired from that position in 1936. Among
his pupils are violist and film composer Anthony Collins; violist, violin
collector, and writer Robert Lewin; and violinist and pianist Margaret Harrison. Among his admirers were Carl Flesch, Fritz
Kreisler, and Eugene Goossens. A downloadable audio file of a transcription (Dvorak’s
first Slavonic Dance played by Leonidas Kavakos) which Kreisler dedicated to
Rivarde can be purchased here for about fifty cents. In 1922, Rivarde published The Violin and Its
Technique as a Means to the Interpretation of Music, a small study book on
violin technique. The book is still
available and can be purchased for about $20.00. Rivarde played the 1729 Defauw Stradivarius - being one of the later violins constructed by Stradivari, its back is not made of flamed maple but is quite plain. The violin was later owned by Leonard Sorkin, first violinist of the Fine Arts Quartet. (In contrast to the Amadeus String Quartet, the Fine Arts Quartet has gone through more violists than any string quartet in history - a total of 10.) Rivarde died in relative obscurity (in London)
on March 31, 1940, at age 74. The Second
World War had begun six months previously.
Ossy
Renardy (Oskar Reiss) was an Austrian violinist born (in Vienna) on April 26,
1920. He had the unenviable distinction
of having died at a very young age. Many
critics (and writers) have said he had a very brilliant career ahead of him –
one to rival Bronislaw Huberman, Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler, Ruggiero
Ricci, Mischa Elman, and other top violinists of that time. I don’t know if Paganini ever played his
Caprices in public or whether, if he did, he ever played all 24 in a single
concert. Renardy did. He may have been the very first to do
it. On January 8, 1938, at his Town Hall
debut in New York, he played Dvorak’s Sonatina, Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnol, and
Pietro Nardini’s e minor concerto (a very popular work at the time – Pinchas
Zukerman has recorded it) in the first half of the program. He then played all 24 Paganini Caprices on
the second half. He was 19 years
old. The following year, he recorded the
Caprices (the version with piano accompaniment), becoming the first violinist
to record all 24 Caprices on a single disc (actually, they were issued on two
discs.) Seven years later, Ricci put out
his first version of all 24 Caprices – without the piano accompaniment – and he
later went on to record the Caprices a total of four times – the last version
in 1988. Renardy re-recorded the
Caprices which again included the piano accompaniment (with a different
accompanist) the year he died. Renardy
studied with a now-forgotten Russian violin teacher, Theodore Pashkus
(1905-1970), but at what age he began is something I don’t know. Pashkus and his wife were successful
pedagogues until about 1970. I don’t
know if they ever taught at a conservatory or university. Their pupils included Yehudi Menuhin and Ivry
Gitlis and their instructional books are still in print. In any case, Renardy is said to have been
entirely self-taught (which is possible but hard to believe) prior to meeting
Pashkus and made sufficient progress to make his first public appearance at age
11. In October of 1933, he joined a
variety show in Merano, Italy. (Merano
is about 120 miles southwest of Salzburg, Austria, or about 250 miles from
Vienna.) It was then that he changed his
name. Another well-known violinist who
changed his name was Mischa Mischakoff – three times. In Merano, Renardy played Paganini’s first
concerto at the Merano Casino and then took off to tour Italy. He was still only 13 years old. After that, he played in his native Vienna
and toured France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Italy. Interestingly, no mention is made in any
source I checked about his having toured Germany or Austria. He left the European mainland for England in
1937. He came to the U.S. the same year. He was 17 years old. First, he embarked on a tour of a few
central states and then made his New York debut, described above, in 1938. As did many other violinists, Renardy played
hundreds of concerts for the U.S. armed services during the Second World War
(1941-1945.) As far as I know, he never
played in an orchestra. In 1947, he
began touring once again, playing with most major orchestras in the U.S., Europe,
and Israel. He was 27 years old. In June of 1948, he recorded the Brahms
concerto with the Royal Concertgebouw and Charles Munch. Although he recorded about 35 works
altogether, he did not record another concerto after this. Here is an audio file of Renardy playing a
very familiar work by Wieniawski. His
Guarnerius violin - the Carrodus Guarnerius del Gesu of 1743 – is now being
played by Richard Tognetti, concertmaster of the Australian Chamber
Orchestra. This violin is not to be
confused with other Guarnerius violins bearing the same or a very similar name. It is said to be one of the best four or five
violins (by any maker) in the world. I
do not know how Renardy acquired the violin (in 1949.) Supposedly, it remained un-played for 54 years
- between December, 1953 and January, 2007.
On December 3, 1953, in the afternoon, Renardy died in an automobile
accident while traveling with his accompanist, George Robert, to give a concert
in Colorado (USA.) He was 33 years
old. George Robert and the Guarnerius survived. Hermilo Novelo (pupil of Louis Persinger and
concertmaster of the National Symphony of Mexico) also died in an automobile
accident and his accompanist (Violina Stoyanova) was with him at the time as
well. His violin survived but went
missing after the accident. Stoyanova
did not survive.
Cesar
Thomson was a Belgian violinist, teacher, arranger, and composer born (in
Liege, Belgium) on March 18, 1857. Although
he was considered a brilliant violinist in his time, he is now remembered more
for his teaching. He began violin
lessons with his father at age 5 or 6.
By age 7 he had entered the Liege Conservatory where he studied with
Jacques Dupuis, a very strict teacher. (Liege
is about 50 miles east of Brussels, Belgium.)
He also studied with Rodolphe Massart and Desire Heynberg, who also
taught Eugene Ysaye. According to
Grove’s Dictionary, it was said that Thomson, by age 16, had a technique
unrivalled by any other living violinist – the year was 1873, so that is saying
quite a lot. Take it with a grain of
salt. Thomson later studied additionally
with Hubert Leonard, Henryk Wieniawski, and Henri Vieuxtemps. If he was already a superlative, pre-eminent
violinist, it is hard to imagine what it was they taught him. In 1873, he became concertmaster of a private
orchestra (in Switzerland) at the service of Paul von Derwies, a Russian
banker, railroad industrialist, and serious patron of the arts. Thomson stayed for four years and during the
interim, married into the nobility. By
1879, he was assistant concertmaster of Benjamin Bilse’s Band in Berlin, where
Eugene Ysaye was the concertmaster. Thomson
was barely 22 years old - Ysaye was 21. A
few years later, this orchestra would become the Berlin Philharmonic, but not
under the direction of Benjamin Bilse. One
source clearly states that Thomson was concertmaster of the Bilse Band but that
may be due to a tradition in German orchestras of having two or more
concertmasters, making no distinction between two or three leaders in the same
position. By 1882, Thomson was back
where he started, in Liege, teaching at the Liege Conservatory. In 1897, he took over for Eugene Ysaye at the
Brussels Conservatory. He was 40 years
old. A year later, he formed a string
quartet. Many sources state that Thomson
was austere and cerebral in his approach to music - he can perhaps be compared
to Joseph Szigeti. A review of his first
concert in New York City on October 30, 1894, stated the following: “His
treatment of the Bruch concerto [in d minor] proved him to be a player of
substantial force, but it revealed no influential emotional power. It was dignified, well-considered, and thoughtful. Mr. Thomson may be classed with the scholarly
players who interest the mind rather than overwhelm the heart.” On November 9, 1894, he played one of the
violin concertos of Leopold Damrosch with the New York Symphony, Walter
Damrosch conducting. That concerto has
probably not been heard from since, but that I do not know for sure. Thomson toured a great deal in Europe, South
America, and the U.S. Between 1924 and
1927, he taught at Ithaca College (New York) and at Juilliard as well. Students came from faraway places to study
with him. Among Thomson’s pupils are Haydn
Wood, Johan Halvorsen (famous for his Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia for violin
and viola), Paul Kochanski, Adolfo Betti, Antoinette Zoellner, Joseph Zoellner,
Alma Moodie (Carl Flesch’s favorite pupil), Aylmer Buesst, Edwin Grasse, Hugo
Alfven, and Guillermo Uribe Holguin (founder of the National Symphony of
Colombia.) Thomson edited, arranged, and
transcribed music by Arcangelo Corelli, George Frederick Handel, Giuseppe
Tartini, J.S. Bach, Pietro Nardini, and Vitali – I don’t know which of the
Vitalis. Among his own works is a Gypsy
Rhapsody for violin but I don’t know if it has been recorded or even
published. He played a G.B. Guadagnini
violin (1780), a Santo Serafin (constructed in 1740 – later owned for many
years by Zino Francescatti), Giuseppe Guarneri (1703, auctioned in late 1990s
for about $400,000), and an Andrea Guarneri violin (1650) which ended up in a
museum. Thomson died (in Bissone,
Switzerland) on August 21, 1931, at age 74.
In Liege, a street is named after him.
Simone
Lamsma is a Dutch violinist and teacher born (in Leeuwarden, Netherlands –
about 70 miles northeast of Amsterdam) on October 5, 1985. Opinions vary, of course, but I think it is
no exaggeration to say she is among the top ten present-day violinists in the
world. As has been the case with
violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, there are few music critics who have resisted the
temptation to refer to her striking beauty in their reviews of her performances. From her photograph, you can see why. Lamsma’s recordings have already garnered
huge praise. Her tours have included
performances with chamber music ensembles around the world. Needless to say, Lamsma has performed with all
of the top orchestras in the Netherlands, including the best orchestra in the
world – the Royal Concertgebouw. She
began her violin studies at age 5 at the Northern College of Music. Soon thereafter, she enrolled at the Sweelink
Conservatory in Amsterdam and studied for a while with well-known violin
pedagogue Davina van Wely. In 1997, at age
11, she enrolled at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London, England. She also studied at the Royal Academy of
Music until 2004, the year she graduated, with Hu Kun in the same city. After that, she began studies with Maurice
Hasson at the Royal Academy as well. In
addition, Lamsma also participated in master classes with Yehudi Menuhin,
Zakhar Bron, Herman Krebbers, Julian Rachlin, and Zvi Zeitlin, among
others. By 2006, she had made her
recording debut which immediately earned the award for Instrumental and Chamber
Disc of the Month from Classic FM magazine.
She was 21 years old. She was
named an Associate at the Royal Academy of Music in 2011. From various sources I checked, it is evident
Lamsma loves violin competitions and has won a number of them beginning at a
very young age. Her tours have taken her
to China, the U.S., South America, and, of course, throughout Europe. She frequently collaborates with conductor
and former concert violinist Jaap van Zweden, one of her many champions. Her U.S. debut was in 2009 in Indianapolis
with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.
Lamsma frequently collaborates with other major artists to perform
chamber music. A typical review reads
something like this: "… a terrific
account of Beethoven's Violin Concerto [was heard] with Simone Lamsma as the
sensational and glamorous soloist. Powerful in control, the young Dutch violinist
drew silvery meticulousness and burnished tone out of the Stradivarius, but it
was her sense of line and phrase that held her audience spellbound.” Another one: “Lamsma’s mix of high ardor and
collegial spirit is something to be treasured.”
And another: “Her sound is full of energy and refreshing.” Here is a YouTube video of one performance
and here is another. Among other violins,
she has played a (Ferdinand) Gagliano (1773), a Carlo Tononi (1709), and the
Habeneck Strad from 1734, but her current violin is the Chanot Stradivarius (aka
the Braga Stradivarius) of 1718 (or 1681 or 1726 – sources differ.) It has been loaned to her by an anonymous
benefactor. The violin is reportedly
protected by a (Dimitri) Musafia violin case, one of the best violin cases
available. The Chanot Stradivarius is
rather unique in that it has no corners and has been described as guitar-shaped
although it is definitely not guitar-shaped.
The Chanot was purchased by Joshua Bell in 1987 and subsequently
sold. It is said to have been featured
in the 1998 movie The Red Violin.
