Sascha Jacobsen was a
Russian violinist and teacher born (in Helsinki, Finland) on December 10, 1895. Jacobsen’s birthdate is also given as
November 29, 1895 and December 11, 1895.
Little is known of his early life.
It has been said that he grew up in St Petersburg. He has been often confused with another
violinist (from Philadelphia) named Sascha Jacobson. A humorous song written by George Gershwin in
1921 includes his (first) name (along with those of Jascha, Toscha, and Mischa
– Russian violinists Heifetz, Seidel, and Elman, respectively.) It is known that he enrolled at Juilliard in
1908 where his main teacher was Franz Kneisel.
He graduated from Juilliard (Institute of Musical Art) in June of 1914
(some sources say 1915.) He was 18 years
old. (A fellow-student of his was Elias
Breeskin.) In February of 1915, Jacobsen
played parts of Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnol at an Aeolian Hall concert. On November 27, 1915, he made his official
recital debut at Aeolian Hall playing (among other things) Saint Saens’ third
concerto. After the announced program
was concluded, he had to play numerous encores and he received very favorable
reviews the following day. He first
soloed with the New York Philharmonic on March 9, 1919 (at age 23) playing
Bruch’s first concerto with Walter Damrosch conducting. Jacobsen concertized as a soloist between
1915 and 1925. He began teaching at
Juilliard in 1926. After being hired, he
almost immediately formed the Musical Art Quartet which disbanded in 1945,
after almost 20 years of concert activity.
Recordings of this quartet are not hard to find. Jacobsen also did solo recordings, although
mostly of short works for violin and piano.
A well-known recording of his is the Chausson concerto for string
quartet, violin, and piano with Jascha Heifetz as violin soloist. You can listen to that recording here. He moved to Los Angeles (California, USA) in
1946 and taught at the Los Angeles Conservatory but at other music schools as
well. From September 1947 and May 1949,
he was guest concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Some sources say he was concertmaster up to
1952 but I could not confirm that. It
has been said that Albert Einstein was one of Jacobsen’s pupils. (Einstein also took lessons from Toscha
Seidel.) Jacobsen’s most famous pupils
are probably Julius Hegyi and Zvi Zeitlin.
Among the violins he played are the Red Diamond Stradivarius (1732), the
Cessole Stradivarius (1716), the Windsor Stradivarius (1717), a GB Guadagnini
(1779), another GB Guadagnini (1772), and a Del Gesu Guarnerius constructed in
1732. Jacobsen died on March 19, 1972,
at age 76.
Hugo Heermann was a
German violinist and teacher born (in Heilbronn) on March 3, 1844. He taught briefly in the U.S. but spent most
of his teaching career in Frankfurt, at the well-known Hoch Conservatory. He taught there for 25 years - from 1878
until 1904 – but also concertized sporadically.
Joseph Lambert Massart and Joseph Joachim were among his teachers. At 20 years of age (1864), he established
himself in Frankfurt. Beginning in 1865,
he played first violin in the Heermann Quartet (which also used other names) with
Fritz Bassermann on second, Adolf Rebner on viola, and Hugo Becker on cello. As mentioned previously, he became a teacher
at the Hoch Conservatory in 1878. His
most famous pupil at the conservatory (by far) is Bronislaw Huberman – that
fact alone is sufficient to keep his name in the music history books forever. In the early 1900s Heermann came to the U.S.
and played the Beethoven concerto in his first U.S. appearance on February 5,
1903. I don’t know which orchestra
accompanied him but I do know he played a cadenza he composed himself. He very soon after played the Brahms concerto
with the New York Philharmonic on February 13, 1903 and received very favorable
reviews. It is said to be the first New
York performance of the concerto. Walter
Damrosch was on the podium so it was probably the New York Symphony which he
played with, although it was later merged with what we now know as the New York
Philharmonic. Franz Kneisel had already
played the first Boston performance – possibly the first U.S. performance of
the Brahms concerto - on December 6, 1889.
On April 3 of the same year Heermann played the first Bruch concerto
with the philharmonic under the same conductor.
His final appearance with the philharmonic was on January 26, 1907 – by
then, he had already settled in the U.S.
He played the Beethoven concerto on that occasion. A critic pointed out that he had made a “deep
impression upon the audience, and was rewarded with all the enthusiastic
applause which his performance warranted, being recalled again and again.” Heermann taught at the Chicago Musical
College from 1906 to 1909. He was later
appointed concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony, where he served between
1909 and 1911. In 1911, he returned to
Europe, taking up teaching; first at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, and,
beginning in 1912, at the Music Conservatory in Geneva, Switzerland. For many years, Heermann used a 1733
Stradivarius violin which he purchased in 1860.
On or about the year 1888, Heermann acquired another Stradivarius violin
presumably made in 1734. That violin was
purchased by Eugene Ysaye in 1895, from whom it was stolen in 1908. After it was found in a Paris shop in 1925,
none other than (violinist) Charles Munch bought it and kept it until
1960. It was later played by Henryk
Szeryng, who bequeathed it (in 1972) to the City of Jerusalem, to be used by
the concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic.
The violin goes by various names but that does not make it hard to
trace. Another Stradivarius which
Heermann used and which was constructed in (about) 1734, is now played by Gidon
Kremer. That violin is known as the
Heermann Stradivarius. Heermann also used
yet another Stradivarius violin (from about 1700 - the Jupiter Strad) from 1892
to 1895. According to the Cozio website,
that violin is now in the hands of Hollywood studio violinist Arnold
Belnick. Heermann retired in 1922,
living mostly in Merano, Italy, where he eventually died on November 6, 1935,
at age 91.
William Kroll was an American violinist, teacher, and composer born
(in New York) on January 30, 1901. As were violinists
Joseph Achron, Christian Sinding, Benjamin Goddard, Ottokar Novacek, and Arthur
Hartmann, he is famous for a single composition, Banjo and Fiddle, which most
concert violinists learn and play at one time or another. He began his violin studies with his father
(a violinist) at age 4. At age 9 or 10,
he went to Berlin to continue his studies with Henri Marteau, Joseph Joachim’s
successor at the Berlin Advanced School for Music. He returned to the U.S. after World War I
broke out in 1914. In New York, he
studied at Juilliard (Institute of Musical Arts) with Franz Kneisel from 1916
to 1921. He actually made his public
debut in New York at age 14. One source
describes his debut as “prodigious.” Although
Kroll concertized as a soloist in Europe and the Americas, he dedicated a great
deal of time to chamber music as a member of various chamber music ensembles,
well-known in their time: the Elshuco Trio (William Kroll, Willem Winneke, and
Aurelio Giorni, 1922-1929), the South Mountain Quartet (1923-), the Coolidge
Quartet (William Kroll, Nicolai Berezowsky, Nicolas Moldavan, and Victor
Gottlieb, 1936-1944), and the Kroll Quartet (William Kroll, Louis Graeler,
Nathan Gordon, and Avron Twerdowsky, 1944-1969.) The Coolidge Quartet was being paid $400.00
per concert in 1938, a good sum in those days – the equivalent of $6,550.00
today. From a very early age, he taught
at several music schools, namely Juilliard (1922-1938), Mannes College (1943-),
the Peabody Conservatory (1947-1965), the Cleveland Institute (1964-1967), and
Queens College (1969-) Kroll made very
few commercial recordings but an interesting one is a recording of three Mozart
Sonatas available here for about $120.00.
It includes the famous K454 sonata which Mozart wrote in 1784 for Regina
Strinasacchi, one of the very first female concert violinists. You can listen to a short Kroll recording on
YouTube here. Among his violins were a 1709
Stradivarius (the Ernst Strad, aka as the Lady Halle Strad, owned and played by
Heinrich Ernst, and, later, by Wilma Neruda) and a 1775 G.B. Guadagnini. Kroll died (in Boston) on March 10, 1980, at
age 79.
Joseph Fuchs (Joseph Philip Fuchs) was an American violinist and
teacher born (in New York) on April 26, 1899.
His early studies were with his father.
He later studied at Juilliard (Institute of Musical Arts - New York)
with Franz Kneisel and Louis Svecenski and graduated in 1918. His American debut took place in 1920 at the
Aeolian Hall. He then went to Berlin for
further study and to play in several German orchestras in Frankfurt, Munich, and
Berlin. Returning to New York in 1922 or
1923, he played in the Capitol Theatre Orchestra for some time (where Eugene
Ormandy was concertmaster) but also played wherever else the opportunity
arose. Though very highly respected with
a distinguished career as teacher and concert violinist, his profile was never
very high because – Alessandro Rolla comes to mind - he lived during a time
when Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler, Mischa Elman, Nathan Milstein, Yehudi Menuhin,
Michael Rabin, Isaac Stern, Leonid Kogan, David Oistrakh, Arthur Grumiaux, Joseph
Suk, Christian Ferras, Zino Francescatti, Joseph Szigeti, and Ruggiero Ricci
dominated the violin scene. Since he was
concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra for fourteen years (1926 to 1940), his
delayed entry into the concertizing world for that many years may have cost him
dearly. His Carnegie Hall debut did not
come until 1943. He was 44 years
old. Nevertheless, Fuchs toured
extensively all over the world (Europe – 1954, South America – 1957, Russia -
1965) while developing a teaching career in the U.S. Fuchs was also one of a few violinists who
had to retrain after undergoing surgery on his left hand – Huberman and Thibaud
did the same thing. His first appearance
with the New York Philharmonic was on August 1, 1945. He played Bruch’s first concerto on that
occasion. Soon thereafter – on October
27, 1945 - he premiered the Nikolai Lopatnikoff concerto with the same
orchestra. That concerto has probably
not been played much after that though it was recorded by Fuchs. He premiered several other modern works as
well. In 1946, the same year he acquired
the famous Cadiz Stradivarius violin, he began teaching at Juilliard and taught
there almost until the day he died – 51 years.
One of his pupils is Anna Rabinova.
In 1952, he recorded (with Artur Balsam) one of the first complete sets
of the Beethoven violin sonatas. His
last appearance with the New York Philharmonic was on August 1, 1962. A YouTube audio file featuring Fuchs playing
Beethoven’s Romance in G can be found here.
Fuchs’s last recital was in 1992, at Carnegie Hall. He was 93 years old. Nathan Milstein, Joseph Szigeti, Ruggiero Ricci,
Ida Haendal, Abram Shtern, Ivry Gitlis, Zvi Zeitlin, and Roman Totenberg have
also played recitals at a very advanced age.
On the other hand, it may well be that Nicolo Paganini played his last
concert when he was only 52. Joseph
Fuchs died in New York City on March 14, 1997, at age 97. By the way, the Cadiz Strad (1722), having
been sold to an American Foundation, is now on loan to another American
violinist.
Franz
Kneisel was a German (some would say American or Romanian) violinist,
conductor, composer, and teacher born (in Bucharest) on January 26, 1865. He is known for having taught for many years
at the Institute of Musical Arts (Juilliard) and for having led the famous
Kneisel Quartet for more than thirty years (1886-1917.) Together with Theodore Thomas, Max Bendix,
Simon Jacobsohn, Theodore Spiering, Ferdinand Laub, and Hans Letz, he was a
violinist who set the groundwork for the establishment of classical music as a
viable and serious art in the U.S. at the turn of the twentieth century. In Europe, that tradition had already been in
motion and thriving for over 200 years.
Kneisel graduated from the Bucharest Conservatory in 1879, at age
14. In Vienna, he studied with Jacob
Grun and Joseph Hellmesberger at the Vienna Conservatory for three years. In 1882, he made his debut in Vienna. He then soon became concertmaster of the Hofburg
Theatre Orchestra in Vienna. He was 18
years old. The following year (1884), he
became concertmaster of Benjamin Bilse’s Band in Berlin, the precursor of the
Berlin Philharmonic. By then, however,
it was actually known as “Former Bilse’s Band,” since most of its musicians had
broken away (in 1882) from conductor Benjamin Bilse to form their own
organization. It did not adopt the
Berlin Philharmonic name until 1887. Eugene
Ysaye had just left the concertmaster’s post in that orchestra to become a
concert violinist, teacher, and composer.
Kneisel left Germany for the U.S. in 1885 and was soon appointed
concertmaster of the Boston Symphony, where he played for 18 years (1885-1903),
and with which he appeared as soloist many times. He was also its assistant conductor. He was 20 years old. It has been said that over the years, Kneisel
conducted the Boston Symphony over a hundred times. Joseph Silverstein was probably the last
concertmaster in Boston who enjoyed the privilege of being an assistant
conductor as well. Kneisel formed the
Kneisel Quartet from among members of the orchestra (Emanuel Fiedler, Louis
Svecenski, and Fritz Giese.) Kneisel and
Svecenski (violist) stayed with the quartet until it was disbanded in 1917 but
the other positions were filled by many other players later on. The Kneisel Quartet became known all over the
U.S. and Europe. Several sources state
that Kneisel gave the premiere performances of the Brahms and Goldmark violin
concertos in the U.S. as well as the famous Cesar Franck A major sonata. According to Bridget Carr, Archivist for the Boston Symphony, Kneisel first performed the Brahms concerto in Boston on December 6, 1889 (almost ten years after it was premiered in Germany by Joseph Joachim) and the Goldmark concerto almost exactly a year later, on December 5, 1890. In 1897, Kneisel acquired a 1714 Stradivarius
which he owned until his death. It is
known as the Grun ex-Kneisel Strad but I have no idea who plays it now. He had previously played (and presumably
owned) a G.B. Guadagnini from 1752. He
also acquired a 1780 Guadagnini in 1914.
In 1905, Kneisel moved to New York to become the head of the violin
department at the Institute of Musical Arts (Juilliard) which was newly
established. He was fifty years
old. Eventually, Kneisel became so busy
teaching that he had to disband his quartet, by then, considered the best in
this country and one of the best in the world. He taught at Juilliard until
the day he died – about 11 years. Kneisel’s
pupils include Elias Breeskin, Louis Kaufman, Joseph Fuchs, Jacques Gordon, Sascha Jacobsen,
Samuel Gardner, Michel Gusikoff, Robert Talbot, Bernard Ocko, William Kroll, Lillian Fuchs, Joan Field, and
Olive Mead. He published several study
books which are probably no longer in print.
He also wrote a Grand Concert Etude for violin which, as far as I know,
nobody plays anymore. The Kneisel Quartet
may have recorded only once – in 1917. Kneisel
died (in New York City) on March 26, 1926, at age 61.
Elias Breeskin was a Russian (Ukrainian) violinist, composer, arranger, teacher, and conductor born in 1896 – the exact date is unknown. One source gives his year of birth as 1897, but that source (Cozio) is usually messy and unreliable. He was a notorious gambler and con man who was a very successful musician in spite of his addiction to gambling. He began violin lessons very early in life and, according to one source, by age 7 was studying formally at a conservatory in Poland. He played in public at age 8 and was acclaimed. It has been said that he studied with Leopold Auer in Russia. Whether that is true is quite debatable. At age 10 (1906), he played for Franz Joseph, the Austrian Emperor. After this performance, the Emperor supposedly gave him a priceless ring right off his finger. That, too, is highly questionable. Soon after, the family came to the U.S. and settled in Washington D.C., a very odd place for a European musical family to settle – then and even now. Sponsored by a Washington benefactor, he may have first gone to Baltimore to study at the Peabody Conservatory. However, Breeskin himself stated that after securing financing from (among a few others) Frank Damrosch (brother of conductor Walter Damrosch and, at the time, Director of the Institute of Musical Arts which later became Juilliard), he began his American musical education at Juilliard (New York) in the spring of 1908. He studied with Franz Kneisel for about seven years. A magazine from that era (The Violinist) and the New York Times reported that Breeskin attended Columbia University after hours, studying languages and other subjects. Possibly upon graduation from Juilliard – in 1915 - he shared the Loeb Memorial Prize with Sascha Jacobsen. He was 19 years old. Afterward, as part of the Loeb Prize awarded him, he made his debut in Carnegie Hall and was very well received. In February or March of 1917, he received (on loan) a Stradivarius violin (the 1703 Rougemont Strad) and a Tourte bow from a benefactor – Edward Schafer – which he used for about ten years. In 1929, for understandable reasons, the violin was returned to the benefactor to help him with payment of debts after the stock market crash. The Rougemont was later played for two years by Jacques Gordon, concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony. I do not know where it is now. Breeskin joined the New York Symphony in 1917. At that time, this orchestra was being conducted by Walter Damrosch. Though it was organized many years after the New York Philharmonic, it was the first American orchestra to tour Europe - it merged with the Philharmonic in 1928. Among the New York Symphony’s members were Mischa Elman and Pablo Casals. In early February, 1917, Breeskin appeared in recital at the Aeolian Hall in New York City. A little over a year later (February 28, 1918), he played there again. One of the works he played at this second recital was Bruch’s second concerto with Lawrence Goodman at the piano. On April 1, 1919, he finally made his Carnegie Hall debut, a debut which for unknown reasons, had been postponed several times. Among the works he played was Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnol. This time, he was accompanied by pianist Josef Adler. He was very favorably received at each of his recitals. In June of 1920, he married into a very wealthy American family. Anyone else would have used these newly-acquired resources to become a very major and influential figure in music, but not Breeskin. He was about 24 years old. At about the same time, it became known that he was a serious gambler. Around this time, he also became concertmaster of the Capitol Theatre Orchestra in New York. He was named conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony in 1925. Because of his gambling habit and the consequent accumulation of gambling debts, that job did not last long. Having left Minneapolis within the year, he went to Pittsburgh where he helped re-organize the Pittsburgh Symphony. There, he was concertmaster and associate conductor. The gambling continued. His last year in Pittsburgh (1929-1930), he was named Principal Conductor. He left Pittsburgh after his divorce from his wealthy wife. I am guessing that up to this time, his wife’s family may have been taking care of his huge gambling debts. Then, he returned to New York. He worked as an orchestral musician and arranger for a few years. He did some recording as conductor of a pickup orchestra for the KBS (Keystone Broadcasting System) label. Those recordings may still be available though they mostly feature light classical or salon music. He also recorded several violin pieces with pianist Theodore Saidenberg for KBS, one of which can be found on YouTube. Breeskin may have also recorded for the RCA and Brunswick labels. Many years later (1937), he found himself in Hollywood. There, he wrote and arranged music and he helped form the Hollywood Bowl Symphony. Nevertheless, having at one point in 1940 stolen the orchestra’s payroll, he exited to Mexico City, where he worked as musical director for radio stations XEW, XEX, and XEB, gave lessons, and composed movie soundtracks. His second family later joined him. If it’s true that he studied languages at Columbia, those studies now came in handy. One source has it that he lived like a king, surrounded by servants. As far as I know, he never set foot in the U.S. again. In any case, his great success in Mexico lasted about five years. The gambling had continued and he was finally imprisoned for supposedly being on the wrong side of the political agenda – he may have been a Communist - and, presumably, for his gambling debts as well. He was pardoned in 1958. He was 62 years old. While in prison, he wrote a piece entitled the City of the Dead. It got good reviews when he premiered it later on. Whether it is still performed is anyone’s guess – I’m guessing it is not. He married for a third and final time after leaving prison. Breeskin died May 9, 1969, at about age 73. He left three wives (Adelyn, Anna, and Lena) and seven children.
Joan Field was an American violinist born (in Long Branch, New Jersey) on April 28, 1915 (Heifetz was 14 years old and would live an additional 72 years.) She is a very rare example of an American concert violinist who never attended an American music school, although she studied privately with Albert Spalding (teacher at Boston College), Franz Kneisel (teacher at Juilliard), and Michel Piastro (Concertmaster of the NBC Symphony under Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic under Rodzinski.) (In fact, Nicolo Paganini, Zino Francescatti, and Alexander Markov never formally attended a conservatory either. For the record, neither did Daniel Barenboim.) She began violin studies at the age of 5. One source states that her earliest teacher was pianist Andre Benoist, whom, it is said, discovered her. From age 10, in Europe (Paris, France), she studied with Jacques Thibaud and George Enesco, among others. At age 14, she returned from Europe (1929) and continued her studies, most likely with her former teachers. Her debut in Town Hall in New York City took place five years later, in 1934. She was 19 years old. Benoist was her accompanist, accompanist also of Jascha Heifetz, Pablo Casals, and Albert Spalding. The program included the violin concerto of Ernst von Dohnanyi (Opus 27 in d minor), a seldom-performed work. The review of the performance (in the New York Times) stated that "Miss Field's playing is that of a thoughtful, sensitive, and fastidious musician." From that point forward she regularly concertized and recorded, in the U.S. and in Europe, playing with all of the major orchestras. In 1937, she played at the White House, hosted by President Franklin Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. She first soloed with the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall on March 25, 1939, playing Wieniawski’s second concerto. In 1944, she began a successful radio career at WQXR in New York (the same station which violinist Eddy Brown helped found in 1930), eventually writing, producing, and performing in more than 200 weekly programs. She premiered the violin concerto of prodigious (though unknown) composer Mana-Zucca (Augusta Zuckerman) which was probably written for her. Eddy Brown later recorded the concerto. Field also premiered Sergei Prokofiev’s second violin sonata in the U.S. She was the first to record Charles Ives’ first violin sonata (1951) as well – she had already been playing his violin works for some time. Her playing (for an October, 1948 Town Hall recital) was described as being “uncommonly satisfying.” Coming from a professional New York music critic, that wording is itself very uncommon and an exceedingly high compliment. Decca signed her to a recording contract in 1958 and one of the first works recorded by her for this label was Spohr’s eighth violin concerto - she was only the third violinist to record the work. (Georg Kulenkampff was the first to record it, in 1935, and Heifetz was the second, in 1951.) One of her rare recordings – now out of print - can be found here. Although YouTube has no videos of her playing, a Facebook fan page can be found here. Until 1968, Field played the Joseph Joachim Stradivarius violin (1698) which is now in Geneva, Switzerland. She retired (in Florida) in 1965, at age 50. (Iso Briselli retired from the concert stage at age 35. On the other hand, at age 89, Ivry Gitlis is still giving concerts.) Joan Field died in Miami Beach on March 18, 1988, at age 72. As far as I know, she only taught privately.
Max Bendix was an American violinist, conductor, teacher, and composer born (in Detroit, USA) on March 28, 1866 (Brahms was 33 years old and would live an additional 34.) He is mostly remembered for his long-term professional ties to Theodore Thomas, one of the founders (and first conductor) of the Chicago Symphony. His most important, and perhaps his only teacher was Simon E. Jacobsohn, a very significant (but now forgotten) violinist and teacher of the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century. (Jacobsohn began his American career in New York but later established himself in Cincinnati then in Chicago in 1887. Bendix may have studied with him from 1874 until about 1878. Bendix himself later said that the total sum of formal training he had was about four years. According to Bendix, Jacobsohn kicked him out of his class for being undisciplined. Among Jacobsohn's other pupils was Nahan Franko.) Seemingly without bothering with a lot of formal training and its attending rituals (such as a formal debut and subsequent concert tours), Bendix first played with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra in May of 1878, when the orchestra was playing in Cincinnati. In 1880, he became concertmaster of the Cincinnati Orchestra, the precursor of the Cincinnati Symphony. He was 14 years old. Bendix went on to play in other orchestras as concertmaster or in the first violin section, including the Germania Orchestra (in Philadelphia, 1883-1884), the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (New York, 1885-1886), and the Arion Society of New York. Bendix told an interviewer in 1898 that he also played in small theatre orchestras and in circus bands as well simply to make a living (probably during the off season.) By the Spring of 1886, he was concertmaster of the Theodore Thomas Orchestra, which would much later (some sources say 1895) become the Chicago Symphony. It is important to say here that the Theodore Thomas Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony were, for a time, two distinct groups, even though they shared many of the same players. The Chicago Symphony has actually played under three names: The Chicago Orchestra (1891-1905), the Theodore Thomas Orchestra (1905-1912), and finally, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1912.) (Similarly, in 1882, Benjamin Bilse's Band became the Berlin Philharmonic.) Bendix went to Europe for about 7 months in 1889 but rejoined the Thomas group in 1890, again as concertmaster. (It is probable that he studied with Emile Sauret while in Europe.) In October of 1891, Bendix played the U.S. premiere of the Dvorak violin concerto in Chicago with Thomas conducting. Maud Powell claimed to have given the concerto's premiere but that is incorrect - Bendix gave the first U.S. performance of the Dvorak concerto and that performance is well-documented. Bendix remained with the orchestra until about 1896, actually leading the orchestra as conductor for a time in 1892 and 1893, filling in for Thomas when the latter left suddenly after some political battles which he (apparently) lost. It is well-known that Thomas was not pleased by this and a rift between the two started to develop. After Thomas decided not to renew his contract, Bendix said “One thing is true: either I have conducted the concerts too well or not well enough.” In 1897, Bendix toured the U.S with none other than Eugene Ysaye (whom he had met in Europe) and a small group of other (less well-known) musicians. In 1899, the Musical Courier pronounced Max Bendix the “finest American violinist.” He conducted regularly as well, wherever such opportunities arose, including St Louis, Seattle, New York, and Chicago. In 1904, he was concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera and, in addition, began conducting there beginning in 1905. 1907 found him serving as concertmaster and assistant conductor of a now forgotten organization called the Manhattan Opera Company – he had taken over for Sam Franko, another violinist who had played with Theodore Thomas. He also formed the Bendix String Quartet, about which little is known. He briefly conducted a group called the People’s Philharmonic Orchestra (in 1919 in San Francisco) formed out of a break-away group of musicians from the San Francisco Symphony. His best-known pupil was (violinist) Arthur Judson, the famous (some would say infamous) manager of classical music artists and orchestras. Bendix also taught someone named Marion Carpenter, whom he praised. Bendix died in Chicago, almost forgotten, on December 6, 1945, at age 79. Heifetz, Milstein, and Ricci were in their prime. However, Bendix’ association with Theodore Thomas, the Chicago Symphony, and Arthur Judson ensures that his name will be in the history books forever.
Louis Kaufman was an American violinist born on May 10, 1905 (Heifetz was four years old.) He was probably the most recorded violinist of all time, though Heifetz and Ricci can claim the same thing. He played for the soundtracks on as many as 500 movies and also made 125 recordings on 30 different labels. It has been said that his tone was similar to Heifetz’. Kaufman began to study at Juilliard with Franz Kneisel at age 13. His solo debut took place at Town Hall in 1928 and was very successful. He played viola in the Musical Art Quartet for seven years (1926-1933.) Among his chamber music colleagues were Jascha Heifetz, Pablo Casals, Mischa Elman, Fritz Kreisler, and Efrem Zimbalist. His 1947 recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons brought Vivaldi’s music to the general public’s attention, though violinist Olga Rudge (Ezra Pound’s mistress) is given credit for rediscovering Vivaldi in Italy, just as Mendelssohn is credited with rediscovering Bach’s music. (Alfredo Campoli is credited with the first recording of the Four Seasons - in 1939 from a radio broadcast - and Bernardo Molinari with the second - in 1942.) A YouTube post of Kaufman playing the third concerto of Camille Saint Saens is available here. If Heifetz had recorded the Saint Saens concerto, it might have sounded something like that. Kaufman also championed the works of many contemporary composers, Francis Poulenc and Darius Milhaud among them. Even while he worked for the movie studios, he concertized around the world. Among the hundreds of movie soundtracks his violin is heard in are Casablanca, The Grapes of Wrath, Cleopatra, and Gone With The Wind. Kaufman was also the first to record Samuel Barber’s violin concerto. His autobiography, published in 2003, is titled A Fiddler’s Tale. Kaufman died on February 9, 1994, at age 88.
