Szymon Goldberg

Szymon Goldberg was a Polish violinist born (in Wloclawek, Poland) on June 1, 1909.  Although he became one of the youngest concertmasters in history, he is best known for creating and leading the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra for more than two decades.  He began studying the violin at age 7 in Warsaw.  His teacher was Mieczyslaw Mihalowicz.  After a year, he went to Berlin (in 1917) where he began lessons with Carl Flesch.  At age 12, he made his debut playing a recital in Warsaw (in 1921) but continued his studies with Flesch afterward.  At age 15, he made his Berlin debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, playing three concertos: the Paganini number one, the Hungarian Concerto by Joachim, and the Bach E Major.  Only four other violinists that I know of have played three concertos in one evening – Yehudi Menuhin and Raymond Cohen are among them.  Goldberg embarked on several European tours before settling down to become concertmaster of the Dresden Philharmonic at age 16, becoming one of the youngest concertmasters on record, though not the youngest.  He remained in Dresden until 1929, at which time he became concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic.  At the behest of the German government, he was forced out of that orchestra in 1934.  He was 25 years old.  During his time in Berlin, he also played in a string trio, between 1930 and 1934, with Paul Hindemith (violist) and Emmanuel Feuermann.  After his dismissal from the Berlin Philharmonic, Goldberg toured Europe and the Far East as a recitalist, accompanied by Pianist Lili Kraus, from 1935 to 1940.  He settled in London in the late 1930s and continued to play and teach.  In 1938, he made his U.S. debut in New York City’s Carnegie Hall.  He was 29 years old.  While playing a recital in Java (Indonesia) in 1942, he was arrested by the Japanese government and interned in prisoner-of-war camps until the end of the Second World War.  He resumed his career after 1945, touring far and wide.  From 1951 until 1965, he was on the faculty of the Aspen Music School (Aspen, Colorado, USA.)  In 1955, he began his conducting career in earnest by accepting the post of chief conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra.  Some sources give him credit for founding this orchestra but others do not.  He led the orchestra from 1955 until 1977.  From 1977 until 1979, he led the Manchester Camerata.  Eventually, he also guest conducted the London Symphony, the BBC Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Boston Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra.  He also taught at Yale (1978-1982), Juilliard (1978-1980), the Curtis Institute (1980-1981), and the Manhattan School of Music (1981-).  Goldberg settled in Japan in 1987.  He was 81 years old.  In 1990, he was appointed conductor of the New Japan Philharmonic (Tokyo, Japan) which he led until 1993.  There are several audio files of Goldberg’s playing on YouTube, one of which is here – it is a duo played with Paul Hindemith on viola.  He also recorded many chamber music works which are easy to find on the internet.  Goldberg died (in Japan) on July 19, 1993, at age 84.  Among his pupils are Ronan Lefkowitz, Ruggero Allifranchini, Pamela Frank, and Fiona Simon.  For many years, Goldberg played the Baron Vitta Guarnerius, now owned by the Library of Congress, and the Liegnitz Stradivarius (1711.) 

Johann Dismas Zelenka

Johann Dismas Zelenka (later on Jan Dismas Zelenka) was an illustrious Czech violinist, bassist, and baroque composer born on October 16, 1679 (Vivaldi was a one-year-old child.) It is thought that he studied at the Prague Jesuit College in his youth. His father was a teacher and an organist. In 1710 – at age 31 – he was appointed principal bass of the Dresden court orchestra. For a composer, the bass is an unusual instrument to take up, but that is that. In 1717, he traveled to Vienna for further study and was a student of Fux. On circumstantial evidence, it is assumed that he also went to Venice and studied with Antonio Lotti (1667-1740) during this period. He returned to Dresden in 1719 to reside and work there permanently. In 1723, he was commissioned to write some of the music for the coronation of Charles VI, which he also conducted. Twelve years later (1735), he was awarded the title of Church Composer (for the Catholic Church) - he had already been working with the title of Court Composer. Although he had served several seasons as de-facto Kapellmeister, he was not granted that title when he applied for it (in 1729 or thereabouts). Evidently, though Zelenka was zealous about his work and very devoted to the court, there was something about him that rubbed his employer the wrong way. However, his music was greatly admired by J.S. Bach and George Telemann so we have little need of other stamps of approval. (He was only six years older than Bach) Though he remained obscure for two hundred years – after his death, performances and publication of his music were banned by order of the court - his music was re-discovered about the middle of the 19th Century. Now, about half of his known output has been recorded. Most of his music was written for the Church – more than 150 works, large and small - but there remains an abundance of secular music from his pen as well. Zelenka’s imagination was so original that his style has been described as “experimental baroque.” There is always something there to surprise and delight the listener - I would say something not unlike a Czech Vivaldi (1678-1741). Zelenka died in 1745.

Albert Spalding

Albert Spalding was an American violinist, composer, writer, and teacher born (in Chicago) on August 15, 1888 (Brahms was 55 years old.) It has been said that he was the first American-born violinist of international stature. Aside from being a superlative virtuoso, he is remembered for many different things. Spalding was an early recording pioneer, playing for over 100 recordings, mostly for the Edison Company. He was also a member of the armed forces twice – during World War One and World War Two, serving in what today would be known as the Intelligence branches. Spalding premiered Barber’s violin concerto (February, 1941) when the violinist who commissioned it (Iso Briselli) refused to play it. He wrote two violin concertos (among other things), though they are no longer played. In the 1920s, he was one of the first to play classical music concerts on the radio. His uncle was a Hall-of-Fame baseball player (pitcher) who began a world famous sporting goods company. Spalding began his violin studies at age 7. His first lessons were in Florence, Italy. He also studied in New York, Paris, and Bologna. At the age of 14, he received his degree and title of Professor of Music from the Bologna Conservatory. He made his public debut in Paris at age 16 (1906) with the third Saint Saens Concerto. With the composer on the podium, Spalding played the same concerto in Florence a year later and received much praise. He then appeared in London and Vienna. On November 8, 1908, he made his American debut in New York (with the New York Symphony, under the baton of Walter Damrosch.) In 1909, he toured the U.S. with the Dresden Philharmonic. He was 21 years old.  From that point forward – except for the two breaks taken to serve during World Wars One and Two - he concertized throughout the world. Spalding retired in May of 1950, just after having played with the New York Philharmonic for an audience of 20,000 in New York. He taught at Boston College and Florida State University. Spalding also wrote his autobiography (1946) and a novel (1953.) He died unexpectedly in New York on May 26, 1953, at the age of 64.