Hagai Shaham is an Israeli violinist and teacher born (in Haifa) on July
8, 1966. For reasons I know nothing
about, he has never left Israel as his home base, as have so many other concert
violinists – Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Guy Braunstein, Jonathan Berick,
Lydia Mordkovitch, Vadim Gluzman, and Ivry Gitlis, to name a few. He is also known for recordings of
little-known works by Joseph Achron.
Shaham is often asked whether he is closely related to American
violinist Gil Shaham – he is not. Shaham
began his violin studies at age 6. He
later studied (from age 12) with Ilona Feher (1901-1988) in Tel Aviv - it has been said that
he was her last student. He also studied
with Emanuel Borok (the highest-paid concertmaster in the world), Elisha Kagan,
and Arnold Steinhardt. Shaham has taught
at USC (in the US - 2007), the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and Tel Aviv
University, among other places. He has
also given numerous master classes throughout the world. His recording labels have included Decca,
Chandos, Hyperion, Naxos, Nimbus, and Biddulph. His
Achron recordings are on the Hyperion label – some of these works have never
before been available to the general public.
It has been said that he found these forgotten works (in manuscript
form) at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
These recordings have been highly praised. One reviewer stated that “through the richness of his tone, superior vibrato
usage, expressiveness of phrasing and top-drawer facility, he fulfills his
potential in striking fashion. It is a
treat to hear such tonally satisfying violin playing when commonplace sound,
even among accomplished artists, is so prevalent." Another has stated that he has “an impressive
a technique as anyone except Heifetz…” In 2009, he formed a piano trio with Arnon Erez (piano) and Raphael Wallfisch. Since then, the trio has toured regularly but mostly in Europe. Here
is a YouTube video of him playing a well-known piece by Jeno Hubay.
Shlomo Mintz is a Russian violinist, violist, teacher, and conductor born on October 30, 1957 (Heifetz was 56 years old.) (Mintz was born on the same day as Leonidas Kavakos, although ten years earlier.) He is known for a career which encompasses a very wide range of activities – solo appearances, teaching, chamber music, recording, recitals, judging, philanthropic sponsorships, and conducting. He began his violin studies in Israel with the famous and beautiful Hungarian violinist Ilona Feher at age two. He studied with her until 1973. At age 11 (April 23, 1969), he made his debut with the Israel Philharmonic playing Mendelssohn's concerto (Uri Segal conducting.) Soon afterwards, as Itzhak Perlman fell ill, he substituted for him (again with the Israel Philharmonic), playing the first concerto of Paganini. Many concert musicians have launched their careers in exactly this same fashion. He made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of sixteen with the Pittsburgh Symphony playing the Bruch g minor concerto. He then began his studies with Dorothy DeLay at Juilliard although his career was already well on its way. In 1997, he played Paganini’s famous Cannone violin (Guarneri del Gesu, 1742) - a replica of which I will soon have in my hands (thanks to luthier Daniel Houck) - during a concert in Maastricht (the Netherlands) with the Limburg Symphony. From the age of eighteen, Shlomo Mintz added the role of conductor to his artistic life and has since conducted many orchestras worldwide, including the Royal Philharmonic (England), the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Japan), the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and the Israel Philharmonic. On April 6, 1992, Mintz made his New York conducting debut, conducting the Israel Chamber Orchestra on that occasion. In March 1994 he was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Maastricht Symphony Orchestra (The Netherlands). In 2008 Mintz was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic. Shlomo Mintz gives master classes worldwide and has been a member of the jury of several international violin competitions. His discography does not include the Tchaikovsky concerto nor the concertos of Bach or Paganini. Otherwise, it is fairly extensive. It has been reported that Mintz has recorded all of Vivaldi’s violin concertos in a single collection but I seriously doubt that – Vivaldi wrote about 230 violin concertos. I would have to see the collection to believe it. There are many videos of his on YouTube. As far as I know, Mintz still plays a Guarneri del Gesu (1700) and a Carlo Testore viola built in 1696.
Ilona Feher was a Hungarian violinist and teacher born on December 1, 1901 (Heifetz was born the same year.) She is remembered as a teacher rather than as a violinist. Many biographical writings mention her striking beauty. She studied with Jeno Hubay at the Franz Liszt Academy (Budapest) and began concertizing at an early age, until the Second World War interrupted her career. For a number of years after the end of the war, she played exclusively in Eastern Europe. In 1949, she moved to Israel, where she lived and taught for the rest of her life - nonetheless, she gave master classes all over the world as well. Shlomo Mintz is among her well-known pupils. I do not know if she ever did any recording - commercial or live. I'm estimating that Feher died on January 1, 1988, at age 87.
