Guila Bustabo

Guila Bustabo (Guila Adelina Theressina Bustabo) was an Italian-Bohemian violinist born on February 25, 1916 (Heifetz was 15 years old.) She is remembered (if at all) for a brilliant career which ended prematurely. Bustabo later said: "Menuhin got away from his parents. He was lucky. I never got away from mine." She was the daughter of a domineering (some would say abusive) mother. Bustabo was actually born in Wisconsin (which is in itself unusual.) She began lessons with her mother before she was three years old. By age five, she was studying with Leon Sametini (a pupil of Ysaye) in Chicago. She is said to have played in the Chicago Symphony and the Chicago Grand Opera Company although that is debatable given her age at the time. After Sametini procured a scholarship for her (from Juilliard), she went to New York to study with Louis Persinger. Other pupils who were studying with Persinger at the same time (including Yehudi Menuhin) would later remember noticing bruises on her little arms and head when she would arrive in the morning. On November 2, 1929, she played the first movement from Wieniawski's F sharp minor concerto (a very difficult work) at a children's concert of the New York Philharmonic.  Bustabo again soloed with the New York Philharmonic on December 6, 1930, this time playing the first movement from Mozart's fifth violin concerto. She played Wieniawski’s d minor concerto in her New York, Carnegie Hall debut at age 15 (1931.) By 1934 she was touring Europe and even played the Sibelius concerto for Sibelius himself (by his invitation) in 1937. The old man was exceedingly impressed with her playing. Bustabo was, by then, also playing a Guarnerius violin which had been given to her as a gift by several admirers (including Toscanini.) Some sources say that Lady Ravensdale purchased the violin for her in 1934 after her London debut. Perhaps both versions are true. In 1938 and 1939 she appeared with the New York Philharmonic. Her last appearance with the philharmonic took place on January 10, 1948 - it was for a youth concert at Carnegie Hall.  She was by then 31 years old.  During the war years, Bustabo played almost exclusively in all the Nazi-occupied territories in Europe. After the war (1945), she was arrested by General Patton in France, though she was never charged. After that episode, word got around that she had been a Nazi sympathizer (if not a collaborator) and her solo career became somewhat inert, especially in the U.S. She was barely thirty years old. In 1949, she married an American military bandmaster (Edison Stieg.) It has been reported that violinist Yfrah Neaman heard her play in a recital at Wigmore Hall (London) in the late 1940s and “came away very disappointed.” With most of her engagements dried up, she took a teaching post in Innsbruck (Austria) in 1964. She ended up retiring in 1970 (at age 54) and settled in Birmingham, Alabama, with her mother. In Birmingham, she sat in the first violin section of the Alabama Symphony for five years, though she played like a soloist and could not sight read (please see comments below for a second opinion). She divorced her bandmaster husband in 1976 (or 1977 – accounts vary) and her mother (Blanche) finally died in 1992 (see comments below for a correction). Guila Bustabo herself died on April 27, 2002, in her two-room apartment in Birmingham, Alabama, at age 86. I do not know what became of her Guarnerius violin - one source says it was returned to its original owner. Bustabo’s recordings of the Bruch and Beethoven concertos with the Concertgebouw are still available. Bustabo's best known pupil is Judith Ingolfsson.

Jacques Thibaud

Jacques Thibaud was a French violinist born on September 27, 1880 (Brahms was 47 years old.) After studying with his father, he entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of 13, studying with Martin Marsick, among others. Upon graduation in 1896, he shared first prize in violin with Pierre Monteux (who later dedicated his life to conducting.) At first, in order to just make a living, he played in the Cafe Rouge in Paris. The French conductor, Edouard Colonne, heard him playing there and offered Thibaud a position in his orchestra. In 1898, he made his debut with this orchestra and subsequently enjoyed great success as a soloist in Europe and everywhere else. This episode mirrors that of another famous violinist who was discovered playing in an Italian Cafe by Toscanini – Vasa Prihoda. (Albert Sammons was also discovered in similar fashion by Thomas Beecham.) In any case, Thibaud made his first tour of the U.S. in 1903 and thereafter came often. He was in the French armed forces during World War One (1914) and suffered injuries which required him to rebuild his technique. With his two brothers (a pianist and a cellist), he also formed a piano trio. Later, he disbanded the brothers’ trio in order to join Pablo Casals and Alfred Cortot in another trio (1930-1935.) Eugene Ysaye dedicated his second unaccompanied violin sonata to him. In 1943, with pianist Marguerite Long, he established the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition for violinists and pianists. His recordings are (understandably) few but they are now collectors’ items. He had a habit of holding his violin pointing downward although that did not detract from the technique or the sound. There are even a few videos of him playing on YouTube – from filming done in the 1930s. Here is one of them. Thibaud died on September 1, 1953 in an airplane crash in the French Alps. He was 72. His fellow French concert violinist, Ginette Neveu, had earlier died in a plane crash as well (1949 - at age 30.) Thibaud owned the 1716 Colossus Stradivarius violin which was stolen in 1998. It has been missing ever since. 

Vasa Prihoda

Vasa Prihoda was a Czech violinist born on August 24 (or 22nd), 1900 (Stravinsky was 18 years old.) His father, Alois Prihoda, was his first teacher and remained so for ten years. Afterward, Prihoda attended the Prague Conservatory, where he studied with Marak (who himself studied with Otakar Sevcik.) He graduated in 1912 and gave his first public performance playing Mozart’s fourth violin concerto (D Major.) Most violinists choose Brahms, Mendelssohn, or Paganini for a debut, but not Prihoda. It has been said that Toscanini discovered him playing in a Café (Grande Italia) in Milan, Italy, on December 27, 1919. Prihoda is remembered for his prodigious technique (which included exceptionally clear articulation), his ease in playing Paganini showpieces, and his 1930 marriage to (and 1935 divorce from) violinist Alma Rose (Gustav Mahler’s niece.) [In 1944, Alma, whose father had been concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic for 50 years, died in a concentration camp.] After the war, Prihoda was censured by the Czech government because he did not boycott any of the German-occupied territories during the war. Prihoda concertized extensively all over the world and made a number of recordings when the industry was in its infancy. Unfortunately, some of his recordings were not well-produced so the sound quality is poor. He played in the U.S. many times and was greatly admired for his style, dazzling technique, and finesse. Critics have suggested that Heifetz was jealous of him. Vienna was his base of operations for many years though he taught in Prague, Munich, and Salzburg as well. After 1950, he dedicated most of his time to teaching and he also composed small chamber works which are no longer played. Prihoda also composed his own cadenzas to all the concertos he played. He gave his last concerts in April, 1960 and died (of heart disease) on July 26, 1960, at age 59 - Heifetz would live another 27 years. There are many  amazing sound files and videos of his posted on YouTube.