Stanley Ritchie

Stanley Ritchie is an Australian violinist, author, conductor, and teacher born (in Yenda, New South Wales – about 350 miles west of Sydney, Australia) on April 21, 1935.  He is known for a successful career encompassing a wide range of musical activity.  He is, however, probably best known for his later involvement in Baroque music, being a specialist in period instrument performance.  In fact, he may well have been one of the first artists to teach (historically-informed) early music practice in America, if not the first.  Sergiu Luca also pioneered early music playing on baroque instruments in the mid-1970s and was the first to record the Bach unaccompanied violin works on a period instrument; however, he did not become as well-known in the field as later violinists did.  It is interesting to note that (in 1980) Austrian violinist Norbert Brainin became involved in a widespread movement in England and elsewhere to lower the tuning of “A” from 440 hz to 432 hz but without success.  This would have applied across the board, not just Baroque music.  I personally favor a lowering of the standard tuning.  The 440 tuning has made music sound a little too brittle and brilliant.  Nevertheless, I think we should keep modern strings – they simply last longer.  Ritchie began his violin studies at age 7 with someone whose name is unknown to me.  He enrolled at the Sydney Conservatory of Music as a young man and graduated in 1956.  He was 21 years old.  Two years after that, he went to Paris where he studied with Jean Fournier (pupil of George Enesco and brother of cellist Pierre Fournier.)  Ritchie finally came to the U.S. in 1959.  He was 24.years old.  In New York, he studied with Joseph Fuchs, Oscar Shumsky, and Samuel Kissel.  In 1963, he became concertmaster of the New York City Ballet.  After two years, he moved to the Metropolitan Opera where he served as Associate Concertmaster.  Raymond Gniewek was the concertmaster at the time.  From 1970 to 1973, Ritchie was a member of the New York Chamber Soloists.  He was appointed Assistant concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony and played in that orchestra from 1973 to 1975.  In 1975, he joined the Philadelphia String Quartet (University of Washington - Seattle, Washington) as first violinist.  Since 1970, he had developed an interest in early music performance as played on instruments fitted to original Baroque standards or specifications (if one can call them that), using Baroque bows as well.  Supposedly, German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has said that period instrument players are “players who ordinarily wouldn't make it, who make silly accents with the bow, cannot produce a sound, and think they are making something profound."  If she in fact made that statement, she has since changed her opinion to a highly positive view.  Ritchie has been professor of violin at Indiana University since 1982 but has continued to concertize and teach far and wide.  He has recorded for various labels, including EMI, Decca, Dorian, Nonesuch, and Harmonia Mundi.  Opinions vary, of course, but my choices for the best authentic (period) instrument ensembles in the world are: the English Concert, the Academy of Ancient Music, Tafelmusik, Europa Galante, Il Giardino Armonico, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, and Les Musiciens du Louvre.  Ritchie’s recording of Vivaldi’s concerto in e minor (with the Academy of Ancient Music) is available on YouTube here.  Vivaldi wrote more than 200 violin concertos – eleven of them are in e minor.  This one is the second in Opus 11 - Opus 11 contains 5 violin concertos and number 2 is the one in e minor.  Whether it’s true or not, it has been widely reported that Igor Stravinsky (or Luigi Dallapiccola or Darius Milhaud) once said that Vivaldi - one of the most important Baroque composers - didn’t compose 600 concertos; “he composed one concerto six hundred times.”  Ritchie has played a Jacob Stainer violin of 1679 for some time.  I do not know if he is still playing it.  

Hilary Hahn

Hilary Hahn is an American violinist and writer born on November 27, 1979 (Perlman was 33 years old.) She began violin lessons at age four. One of her first teachers was Klara Berkovitch (Baltimore), with whom she studied for five years (1984-1989.) At age ten, Hahn entered the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Jascha Brodsky for seven years, learning most of the standard violin repertory - the same 30 concertos that everyone else plays. Hahn also later studied with Jaime Laredo and Felix Galimir, among others. She began concertizing in 1991 (at age 12) but did not make her Carnegie Hall debut until 1996, by then already an established artist. Her graduation from Curtis came in 1999 though her bachelor of music degree belies the fact that she is one of the best (and most expensive) violinists on the world's classical music scene. Hahn's technique is characterized by extreme precision and an even, clear, lean tone. Her sound has few distinguishing features - it is very similar to that produced by a dozen other great violinists on the current concert stage. Her interpretations are subtle, well-defined, controlled, and cautious, not given to an abundance of emotion or idiosyncrasy. Her approach is similar to Anna-Sophie Mutter's in that there is a decided lack of bravado or go-for-broke risk-taking - the opposite approach as takes Leila Josefowicz or Arabella Steinbacher or Ivry Gitlis.  Hahn reminds me of a quote from E.N. Bilbie's book: She has "little to say and so much to say it with."  Her discography is already extensive and is easily accessible on the internet. In addition to having her own website (where she posts journal entries on a regular basis), she has a profile page on MySpace. One can also see and hear videos of her playing on YouTube. Unfortunately, not all of those videos are professionally produced.

Anne Sophie Mutter

Anne-Sophie Mutter is a German violinist and teacher born on June 29, 1963 (Heifetz was 62 years old.) Although she is in the forefront of international violin virtuosos, she actually never attended any big-name conservatories. Her violin studies from the age of five were with Erna Honigberger and Aida Stucki. At age 13, at Herbert Von Karajan’s request, she played with the Berlin Philharmonic. The rest is history. At age 15 she began her recording career. Mutter is a meticulous perfectionist, known for her highly disciplined, careful interpretations. Her U.S. debut came in New York in 1980, at age 17. She did not, however, play in Carnegie Hall until 1988. Her recording of the Beethoven Sonatas was made in CD and DVD format. She is unusual for not using a shoulder rest – a common piece of equipment used by the vast majority of contemporary violinists – and for only wearing strapless gowns in concert. She is also one of the richest violinists in the world, if not the richest. Her instruments of choice are two Stradivarius violins – the Emiliani (1703) and the Lord Dunn–Raven (1710.) She joined the faculty of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1985. In 1993, she became involved in a dispute with several English orchestras over her high fees – then approximately $50,000 per night. As a result, she did not perform with any London orchestras for two years. She then cut her fee by 20 percent and started playing there again. It has been said that Mutter came close to retiring in 2008 but changed her mind. She married her first husband when she was 26 – he was 56. After the death of her first husband in 1995, it was rumored that Mutter became a lover to the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, when he was 75. She married famous conductor Andre Previn in 2002 – she was 39 and he was 73. She divorced him in 2006. There are many videos of her playing – all professionally produced – on YouTube. Her sound is full-bodied and always under control. One will never hear blood, sweat, and tears coming from her violin – in the style of Ivry Gitlis – the soul-baring, wild, virtuosic, risk-taking is simply not there.