David Kim is
an American violinist, writer, and pedagogue born (in Carbondale, Illinois) on May
24, 1963. He is known for being the
long-time concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. His tenure began in 1999 (at age 36) and he now
ranks among historic concertmasters for longevity, along with Raymond Gniewek
(Met Opera), Glenn Dicterow (New York Philharmonic), Norman Carol (Philadelphia
Orchestra), Naoum Blinder (San Francisco Symphony), and Richard Burgin (Boston
Symphony). Kim’s playing has often been
described as elegant but he is equipped with a superb technique as well. As all concertmasters do, he has been soloist
with his orchestra many times and his solo repertoire is extensive. In addition to his duties as concertmaster
with the Philadelphia Orchestra, he is concertmaster of other orchestras (such
as the Aspen and the All-Star Orchestras), although (understandably) on a part
time basis. Kim began lessons at age
three, but I don’t know who his first teacher was. (For unknown reasons, most violinists leave
that information out of their biographies.)
He began classes with Dorothy Delay, a well-known teacher in New York at
age 8. Later, when he enrolled at Juilliard
as an adult student, his main teachers there were Delay and Felix Galimir. From that point, he took the career route
that hundreds of violin students take.
His goal after graduating from Juilliard (in 1985), as is the goal of many
graduates, was to become a touring concert artist – a soloist. That field is, and has always been, extremely
crowded with musicians who are seeking the same kind of spotlight. Sometimes, Fate smiles on you and you make it
into the top tier of soloists, say into the top twenty, and sometimes, it
doesn’t. When that doesn’t happen, you
must take an orchestral job which offers financial security. It is not a bad alternative, especially when
it comes to a position as concertmaster of a world class orchestra. In many ways, it is a far superior
alternative - financially, artistically, and personally - to a touring
life. (Emanuel Borok was earning
$800,000 as concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony before he retired in 2010. He could never have made that kind of money as
a soloist.) From an artistic standpoint,
concertmasters get to know dozens upon dozens of artists intimately, exchanging
stimulating ideas about music (old and new), teaching, careers, instruments, conductors,
and contacts among the world’s top artists.
Most concertmasters also enjoy teaching careers, and they get to play as
soloists in recital or with orchestras around the world. For Kim, being appointed concertmaster in
Philadelphia came after he had already gained experience playing as
concertmaster with other orchestras – those included the Dallas Symphony, the
Jupiter (New York) Symphony, and the Norwalk (Connecticut) Symphony. Kim’s orchestral life actually began at the
late age of 31 – most concertmasters begin in their twenties. (One of the youngest concertmasters in history
was Paul Kochanski, who became concertmaster of the Warsaw Philharmonic at age
14.) It is very rare for a concertmaster
to remain with the same orchestra for 25 years or more, but Kim has done it. Most jump from one concertmaster position to
another. Mischa Mischakoff was
concertmaster of ten different orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra
– I think he holds the record. Kim has
written a book – The Audition Method for Violin - published in 2022, which
guides aspiring orchestral players on the auditioning process. To say that Kim is a very busy concert
artist, adjudicator, teacher, chamber musician, festival director, and
recitalist is an understatement.
There is an abundance of information about him on the internet. Here is a YouTube video of his, playing a
slow movement from the Bach a minor Sonata for solo violin. His strings of choice used to be the
Thomastik Dominant brand but now he uses and endorses Larsen Strings. Among the violins Kim has played are a 1757 J.
B. Guadagnini, a Michele Bergonzi from 1754, and a Francesco Gofriller from
1735 – the dates given are approximations.
Ilya Gringolts is a Russian violinist,
teacher, conductor, and composer born (in Leningrad) on July 2, 1982. He is known for being immersed in
period-instrument performance as well as contemporary playing styles. Ever since he won the 1998 Paganini
Competition at age 16, his virtuosity has become well-known. (The following year, Sayaka Shoji won the
competition – she also was 16 years old.)
As is customary with almost all contemporary violinists, Gringolts
participates in many music festivals around the world. (The production of music festivals seems to
have exploded after 1950 and festivals of one kind or another can now be found
in every corner of the planet.) Gringolts
began studying the violin at age five. I
do not know who his first teacher was. At
age 8, he began studying violin and composition in the St Petersburg (formerly
known as Leningrad) Special Music School with Tatiana Liberova and Jeanna
Metallidi, two teachers of whom I had never heard. In 1994, he made his debut with the Moscow
Symphony Orchestra. He was 12 years
old. I don’t know which piece he played
at that concert. In 1995, he made his
European orchestral debut in Finland, playing Bruch’s first concerto. After winning the Paganini competition, he
relocated to New York (in 1999) and studied at Juilliard with Dorothy Delay and Itzhak Perlman
for three years. During the latter part
of those same three years, he was spending a lot of time in London, studying
and giving concerts. Gringolts made his
Canadian debut (in Ottawa) in 1999 (one source says 2002) – Pinchas Zukerman
was on the podium. He was 17 years
old. He has been very busy ever since,
playing all over the world with every important conductor and in every prestigious
venue. In 2013, he recorded the 24
Paganini Caprices. A usually-reliable
source states that Gringolts now teaches at the Advanced School for the Arts (aka
Zurich Academy of the Arts) in Zurich, Switzerland. Another source says he teaches (or has
taught) at the Basel Hochschule. When I
checked, neither school would confirm his position as violin professor. Regarding his teaching, he has stated –
contrary to universally-accepted dogma - that being a motivator is not part of
his job. In his own words: “I think that
everyone is his or her own motivator.
You should know why you do something, otherwise you shouldn’t do
it.” In 2008, he founded the Gringolts
Quartet. He maintains a busy schedule
with the quartet. It also allows him to
spend more time with his wife, who is the quartet’s second violinist. His discography is not extensive by any
measure but the recordings he has under his belt have been highly praised and
have received awards. Among those
recordings are the Arensky and the Taneyev concertos, two works which are very
(very) seldom heard. You might want to
obtain his recording of the first Paganini concerto since it is pretty
outstanding – it was released in March of 1999.
It is not yet available on YouTube.
A current project in progress is his recording of all of Igor
Stravinsky’s works for violin. Among the
violins he has played are the Kiesewetter Stradivarius (1723), the Provigny
Stradivarius (1716), and a Guarneri Del Gesu dated 1742. Here is one of Gringolts’ YouTube videos – a
concerto by the mysterious and enigmatic violinist Pietro Antonio
Locatelli.
Naoum Blinder was a Russian (Ukrainian) violinist and teacher born (in
Lutzk) on July 19, 1889 – since various sources vary his exact date and place
of birth are approximate. He is best
remembered for being one of Isaac Stern’s teachers – between 1932 and 1935. He was a touring concert violinist for a
while but finally settled in San Francisco to become the orchestra’s
concertmaster for 25 years. He began his
violin studies as a child although I don’t know at what age. By age 14 he had graduated from the Imperial
Conservatory in Odessa. There, he had
studied with Peter Stolyarsky and Alexander Fiedemann. He then entered the Moscow Conservatory (in
about 1904) and studied with an unknown teacher there until about 1910. He was by then 21 years old. From there, he went to pursue further study
in England at the Royal Manchester College of Music. His main teacher there was Adolph
Brodsky. Blinder graduated from the RMC in
1913 or 1914 and then returned to Odessa to teach at the Conservatory. He was 25 years old. He remained there until 1920. All the while, he toured (mostly Russia and
the Middle East) as a soloist. Between
1923 and 1927, he taught at the Moscow Conservatory. I don’t know what he did or where he was
between 1920 and 1923. Blinder and his
family (his wife and daughter) came to the US (via Japan) in December, 1927. Between 1929 and 1931, Blinder taught at
Juilliard in New York. In 1931, he
became the concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony at the invitation of a
friend who had known him in Russia. Blinder
was 42 years old. He continued to tour
intermittently as a soloist and founded the San Francisco String Quartet in
1935 as well. In that year, he and Isaac
Stern played the Bach concerto for two violins with the orchestra. That is fairly typical of teachers and their
favorite students to do. Blinder had a
very large body of students; many of them became members of the San Francisco
Symphony and other orchestras. Glenn
Dicterow and Joseph Roisman also studied with him for a time.
Blinder owned and played several violins – a 1774 G.B. Guadagnini, a
1753 G.B. Guadagnini, and an 1850 J.B. Vuillaume are among them. He died on November 21, 1965, at age 76. Here is a rare solo recording of his.
Adele Anthony is an
Australian violinist and teacher born (in Tasmania) on October 1, 1970. She is known for having won first prize in the
(fifth) Carl Nielsen violin competition in 1996 (at age 25) and for being the
wife of Gil Shaham, with whom she frequently performs. Twelve years before that, at age 13, she had
won the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Instrumental Competition – she
played the Sibelius concerto on that occasion.
Soon afterward, she played the Tchaikovsky concerto in a concert
sponsored by the same organization. That
concert in 1983 is considered her Australian public debut. Anthony began her violin studies at age
3. She studied at the University of
Adelaide with Beryl Kimber. In 1987, she
came to the U.S. to pursue further study at Juilliard (New York City) where her
main teachers were Hyo Kang, Felix Galimir, and Dorothy Delay. According to one source, she studied at
Juilliard for eight years, having received funding from several benefactors, including
the Starling Foundation. However, she
was an active concert artist even while she was still at Juilliard and still
maintains a very active solo concert career.
Her repertoire is very extensive and includes all of the standard violin
literature in addition to many contemporary works less frequently heard by
audiences. As do almost all concert
violinists nowadays, Anthony also plays chamber music at various festivals
throughout the world, but especially in New York, where she resides. She has recorded for various labels and among
her notable recordings are those featuring violin concertos by Carl Nielsen, Ross
Edwards, and Nicolo Paganini. Anthony
plays a Stradivarius violin constructed in 1728. Here is one of her YouTube audio files featuring
the work of Ross Edwards – a refreshing and unusual new work for the violin. A few Stradivarius violins (perhaps one
hundred or so) have been given names which have remained attached to the
instruments for many years but – as far as I know – this one has no specific
name. I have heard it up close a number
of times and it has a wonderful sound. Perhaps
later on, it will be known as the Anthony Stradivarius.
Dorothy
DeLay was an American violinist and teacher born (in Medicine Lodge, Kansas) on
March 31, 1917. She is well-known as the
teacher of many world famous violinists and as a pedagogue as accomplished as
Peter Stolyarski, Leopold Auer, Carl Flesch, Ivan Galamian, Otakar Sevcik,
Joseph Gingold, and Zakhar Bron. She
easily taught more than a thousand students during her career. A story is told of how when DeLay was two
years old, she had opportunity to hug and kiss the King of Belgium – just as
the child prodigy Mozart hugged and kissed Marie Antoinette. She began her violin studies at age 4. She first played in public at age 5. By age 14, she was the leader of her high
school orchestra, which numbered about one hundred players. At 16, she entered Oberlin College (Ohio)
where she studied with Raymond Cerf, an obscure violinist who had been a pupil
of Eugene Ysaye. At 17, she entered
Michigan State University, from which she graduated at age 20. Her violin teacher there was another obscure
violinist and conductor named Michael Press.
From there, she went (in 1937) to New York to study with Louis Persinger
at Juilliard. She was still only 20
years old. She also later studied with
Hans Letz and Felix Salmond at the same school.
DeLay earned a living while at Juilliard by doing odd jobs and playing
wherever and whenever she could. It was
during this time that she founded the Stuyvesant Trio which was active from
1939 to 1942. She also became a member
of Leopold Stokowski’s All-American Youth Orchestra which toured South America
and the U.S. in 1940 and 1941. She
graduated from Juilliard in 1941 but also got married that year. She subsequently traveled with her husband due
to his military service during the war but also occasionally performed as a soloist
and with the trio. In 1946, DeLay
decided to take a break from performing and returned to Juilliard for further
study. She was 29 years old. Her teacher then was Ivan Galamian. In 1948 (one source says 1947), she became
Galamian’s teaching assistant. The rest
is history. She was 31 years old. DeLay had also considered studying medicine
during this time but decided against it.
(Interestingly, Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler did study medicine and
actually became a doctor, though, as far as I know, he never actually practiced.) She also concurrently began teaching at the
Henry Street Settlement School and Sarah Lawrence College (1947-1987.) In 1970, she finally established her own
teaching studio at Juilliard. She was 53
years old and had already been teaching at Juilliard for more than 20 years,
although under Galamian’s shadow. One
fine day, after it had become quite obvious that her teaching style and methods
were incompatible with Galamian’s, Delay let Galamian know that she would not
be teaching at Meadowmount (Galamian’s summer music camp) that summer (in 1970)
but would be at the Aspen Music camp instead; the relationship ruptured and
Galamian (1903-1981) never spoke to her again.
In fact, he tried to get her fired but was unsuccessful. DeLay played a 1778 GB Guadagnini (named the
Dorothy Delay Guadagnini) which was sold at auction in October of 2013 – for
$1,390,000. She acquired the violin in
1969. Today, more than a dozen Juilliard
teachers are former pupils of hers. Besides
Juilliard, DeLay also taught at the University of Cincinnati, the New England
Conservatory, and the Royal College of Music in London. It has been said that DeLay once stated that
“talent is just a mood.” Among her
famous pupils are Anastasia Khitruk, Stefan Milenkovich, Anton Barachovsky, Philippe Quint, Itzhak Perlman, Tijana Milosevic, Miranda Cuckson, Nigel
Kennedy, Peter Oundjian, Jaap van Zweden, Shlomo Mintz, David Kim, Robert
McDuffie, Aaron Janse, Cornelia Heard, Mark Kaplan, Midori Goto, Frank Almond, Juliette Kang, Sarah Chang, Angele Dubeau, Paul Kantor, Tamaki Kawakubo, Robert Chen, Gil Shaham, and Akiko Suwanai. Dorothy DeLay died on March 24, 2002, at age
84. Today, Itzhak Perlman teaches in her
place. The photo shows DeLay in her
early twenties.
Akiko
Suwanai is a Japanese violinist and teacher born (in Tokyo) on February 7,
1972. Suwanai won the Tchaikovsky violin
competition at age 18 (1990) and is well-known for playing one of Heifetz’ old
violins, the Dolphin Stradivarius of 1714. She initially studied in Tokyo with Toshiya
Eto. Eventually she moved to the U.S
where she studied with Dorothy DeLay and Cho Liang Lin at Juilliard. Then she moved to Berlin to study with Uwe
Martin Haiberg at the Advanced School of Art (the University of Art.) Suwanai has since solidly established her
career, gaining praise from critics and audiences throughout the world. She frequently tours with top orchestras, but
mostly in Europe. She soloed with the
New York Philharmonic on November 20, 1997, playing the Mendelssohn concerto –
the one in e minor. Suwanai first
performed with the Berlin Philharmonic on September 12, 2000, playing Ravel’s
Tzigane. She was 28 years old. Charles Dutoit was on the podium. She opened the Shanghai Spring International
Music Festival in 2009, being the first Japanese violinist invited to do
so. She has recorded with the Academy of
St Martin in the Fields, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra
of Europe, among others. Suwanai also
teaches master classes occasionally. As
far as I know, Suwanai presently has her home base in Paris. Paris, New York, Berlin, Rome, and London are
probably the most popular cities for concert violinists to work from. Here is a YouTube video of her playing (in
the orchestra) with a few other musicians at the Louvre. And another is here at the same concert,
playing the double concerto by Bach.
Among her collaborators at the concert are Manrico Padovani, Sergey
Khachatryan, Viviane Hagner, Hyun-su Shin, Manuela Janke, Steven Isserlis, and
Arabella Steinbacher. There are many
other videos of Suwanai in concert on YouTube.
The photo is courtesy of Leslie Kee.
Tai
Murray is an American violinist and teacher born (in Chicago) on May 22,
1982. She is known for having recently
recorded what is now considered the standard by which all other recordings of
the Ysaye solo violin sonatas will be judged - as a young student, she participated in masterclasses with a direct disciple of Ysaye: Josef Gingold. Murray is also known for having privately played a violin “in the nude” – an unvarnished violin, that is. That violin was created for her in 2007 by
Mario Miralles, one of the best violin makers in the world. It has been said he has a ten-year waiting
list. I do not know why Murray played it - not in a concert, of course - before it was finished - possibly because Miralles wanted to hear how it was coming along while still in the workshop. Luthiers find it easy to disassemble and re-assemble violins. Of course,
the violin is now fully varnished although Murray actually used her (circa) 1690 Giovanni
(aka Joannes or Johannes) Tononi violin to record the six Ysaye Sonatas. (Johannes Tononi was the father of the more
famous luthier, Carlo Tononi, one of whose violins Jascha Heifetz owned and
played - in fact, the Tononi violin was the instrument he played in his famous Carnegie Hall debut.) Murray began her violin studies
at age 5 with Brenda Wurman and shortly thereafter entered the Sherwood
Conservatory of Music (founded in 1895) in Chicago. Even though money was very scarce (a
financial condition which befell many nineteenth century child violinists and
their families, including the hyper-famous Bronislaw Huberman), by age 8, she
had transferred to the University of Indiana where she studied with Mimi Zweig,
Yuval Yaron, and Franco Gulli. At age 9,
she made her public debut, playing Mozart’s fourth concerto (in D) with the
Chicago Symphony. (Notorious Czech violinist Vasa Prihoda also made his public debut with this concerto.) She played Lalo’s
Symphonie Espagnol with the Utah Symphony (and Joseph Silverstein) at age
16. The reviews were very
favorable. Her intonation was said to be
“superhuman” and her bowing technique “magical.” The Strad has said that she displays
“sophisticated bowing and vibrato.” You
can observe (and enjoy) her superlative handling of the bow on several YouTube
videos. Another music critic described
her sound as being imbued with “steely sweetness.” It is truly almost impossible to describe
sound with words but I think that comes close.
You can hear for yourself here. Murray
received her Artist Diploma from Indiana University’s School of Music at 18 then
moved on to Juilliard in 2001. There, she
studied with Joel Smirnoff (former first and second violinist of the Juilliard
String Quartet and now President of the Cleveland Institute of Music.) She graduated from Juilliard in 2006 - some sources say 2004. Meanwhile, she had been
concertizing. On February 3, 2001, she
soloed with the San Antonio Symphony, playing the Glazunov concerto. Michael Morgan was on the podium. She was 18 years old. Since then, she has gone on to concertize as
a soloist with some of the world’s major orchestras, as a recitalist, and in
conjunction with several prestigious chamber music ensembles, including the
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
In addition to the Tononi and Miralles violins, she has played a 1727
Guarnerius Del Gesu, on loan from the Juilliard violin collection. Murray is now based in Berlin, indulging in
her passion for languages – she has already immersed herself in French, Japanese,
and German. That, unbeknownst to the
general public, is not an unusual activity for violinists. That and chess. Murray has said that when not performing, she
practices into the wee hours of the morning.
She likes to be where people have a “sense of shared general curiosity,
a certain crackle-and-pop that drives things.” (I love that quote.) Aside from Maxim Vengerov, she is the only violinist I know who loves to
dance Tango, although she also dances swing and salsa, and loves ballet. (Murray’s portrait is courtesy of Marco Borggreve,
a European photographer who photographs the world of music.)
Cesar
Thomson was a Belgian violinist, teacher, arranger, and composer born (in
Liege, Belgium) on March 18, 1857. Although
he was considered a brilliant violinist in his time, he is now remembered more
for his teaching. He began violin
lessons with his father at age 5 or 6.
By age 7 he had entered the Liege Conservatory where he studied with
Jacques Dupuis, a very strict teacher. (Liege
is about 50 miles east of Brussels, Belgium.)
He also studied with Rodolphe Massart and Desire Heynberg, who also
taught Eugene Ysaye. According to
Grove’s Dictionary, it was said that Thomson, by age 16, had a technique
unrivalled by any other living violinist – the year was 1873, so that is saying
quite a lot. Take it with a grain of
salt. Thomson later studied additionally
with Hubert Leonard, Henryk Wieniawski, and Henri Vieuxtemps. If he was already a superlative, pre-eminent
violinist, it is hard to imagine what it was they taught him. In 1873, he became concertmaster of a private
orchestra (in Switzerland) at the service of Paul von Derwies, a Russian
banker, railroad industrialist, and serious patron of the arts. Thomson stayed for four years and during the
interim, married into the nobility. By
1879, he was assistant concertmaster of Benjamin Bilse’s Band in Berlin, where
Eugene Ysaye was the concertmaster. Thomson
was barely 22 years old - Ysaye was 21. A
few years later, this orchestra would become the Berlin Philharmonic, but not
under the direction of Benjamin Bilse. One
source clearly states that Thomson was concertmaster of the Bilse Band but that
may be due to a tradition in German orchestras of having two or more
concertmasters, making no distinction between two or three leaders in the same
position. By 1882, Thomson was back
where he started, in Liege, teaching at the Liege Conservatory. In 1897, he took over for Eugene Ysaye at the
Brussels Conservatory. He was 40 years
old. A year later, he formed a string
quartet. Many sources state that Thomson
was austere and cerebral in his approach to music - he can perhaps be compared
to Joseph Szigeti. A review of his first
concert in New York City on October 30, 1894, stated the following: “His
treatment of the Bruch concerto [in d minor] proved him to be a player of
substantial force, but it revealed no influential emotional power. It was dignified, well-considered, and thoughtful. Mr. Thomson may be classed with the scholarly
players who interest the mind rather than overwhelm the heart.” On November 9, 1894, he played one of the
violin concertos of Leopold Damrosch with the New York Symphony, Walter
Damrosch conducting. That concerto has
probably not been heard from since, but that I do not know for sure. Thomson toured a great deal in Europe, South
America, and the U.S. Between 1924 and
1927, he taught at Ithaca College (New York) and at Juilliard as well. Students came from faraway places to study
with him. Among Thomson’s pupils are Haydn
Wood, Johan Halvorsen (famous for his Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia for violin
and viola), Paul Kochanski, Adolfo Betti, Antoinette Zoellner, Joseph Zoellner,
Alma Moodie (Carl Flesch’s favorite pupil), Aylmer Buesst, Edwin Grasse (blind violinist and composer), Hugo
Alfven, and Guillermo Uribe Holguin (founder of the National Symphony of
Colombia.) Thomson edited, arranged, and
transcribed music by Arcangelo Corelli, George Frederick Handel, Giuseppe
Tartini, J.S. Bach, Pietro Nardini, and Vitali – I don’t know which of the
Vitalis. Among his own works is a Gypsy
Rhapsody for violin but I don’t know if it has been recorded or even
published. He played a G.B. Guadagnini
violin (1780), a Santo Serafin (constructed in 1740 – later owned for many
years by Zino Francescatti), Giuseppe Guarneri (1703, auctioned in late 1990s
for about $400,000), and an Andrea Guarneri violin (1650) which ended up in a
museum. Thomson died (in Bissone,
Switzerland) on August 21, 1931, at age 74.
In Liege, a street is named after him.
Augustin Hadelich is a German violinist born (in Cecina, Italy) on April
4, 1984. He is best known for a very
fast rise to stardom after winning the Indianapolis Violin Competition in
2006. It was virtually a clean sweep of
the competition since he also won special awards for the best performance in
the following categories: Romantic concerto, Classical concerto, Beethoven
sonata, Bach work, commissioned work, encore piece, Paganini caprice, and
sonata other than Beethoven. His reviews
have been full of superlatives since the beginning of his career and,
understandably, he has already appeared with most of the world’s top
orchestras. He soloed with the New York
Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall in New York on October 18, 2012, playing the
Symphonie Espagnol by Edouard Lalo. He
had three times previously played with this orchestra, though not in New
York. He is not yet 29 years old. Hadelich began his violin studies at age 5 with
his father, a farmer who is also a cellist.
At the time, the family was living in Riparbella, Italy (in Tuscany –
Riparbella is about 30 miles south of Florence.) From about age 7, he studied (sporadically)
with, among other teachers, Uto Ughi in Siena for a few years. He eventually ended up in the Istituto
Mascagni in Livorno (Italy) from which he graduated. He was playing recitals in Europe during
this time, too. Later on, in Berlin, he
studied at the Academy of Music. From
there he came to the U.S and enrolled at Juilliard, studying with Joel
Smirnoff. Hadelich graduated from
Juilliard in 2007, a year after he won the Indianapolis competition. His discography is small but, by all
accounts, brilliant. He has recorded all
of Haydn’s violin concertos and Telemann’s fantasias for violin - rarely-heard
works. He also sometimes writes his own
cadenzas, something that few contemporary violinists do. Hadelich currently plays the Kiesewetter
Stradivarius (1723) but previously played the 1683 Gingold Stradivarius. One of his many YouTube videos is here. And here is another – yes, he is that
good!
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.
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.
Sarah Chang is a Korean (some would say American) violinist born on December 10, 1980 (Itzhak Perlman was 34 years old.) She was a child prodigy and has been highly praised by many of the world's greatest musicians and violinists, including Yehudi Menuhin. Her father, who is also a violinist, was one of her first teachers. When she entered Juilliard (New York) at age 6, she played the Bruch g minor concerto as her audition piece. At age 8, she played the Paganini concerto (in D) with the New York Philharmonic. At age 9, she recorded her first CD for EMI Classics, becoming the youngest violinist to be professionally recorded. She effectively began her concert career at the same age. (Chloe Hanslip was signed to a recording contract at age 13.) It is said that it took Ms Chang no more than two weeks to learn the Tchaikovsky concerto when she was only 12. Although she has garnered many awards (including the Avery Fisher Prize), she has never entered any violin competitions - possibly because she never had to. Chang has recorded most of the standard repertoire. As is usual with modern violinists, there are several videos of her playing on YouTube. In 2010, she got into an unpleasant controversy over her scheduling a concert in Detroit during the Detroit Symphony's strike. I don't know if she has a page on MySpace. She plays a 1717 Guarnerius.
Midori (Midori Goto) is a Japanese (some would say American) violinist, teacher, and writer, born on October 25, 1971 (Perlman was 25 years old.) She began violin lessons with her mother at age three. Her first public performance took place at age seven. After she and her mother came to the U.S. (1982), she began studying at Juilliard with Dorothy Delay. Her New York debut took place with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta that same year. She has been concertizing ever since. YouTube features a popular home video of her performance at Tanglewood (1986) when her E string broke twice while she played. In 2000, she graduated from New York University, having earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and again in 2005 a Master’s Degree in the same field from the same school. Nowadays, Midori spends a lot of time teaching - she has founded several educational programs for children. She has also taught at USC (Los Angeles - Heifetz used to teach there) and the Manhattan School of Music, among other schools, and is the recipient of several prestigious awards. However, her discography is not extensive and she has yet to record (or release) the Beethoven and the Brahms concertos, two war horses of the violin repertory. She wrote a memoir (Simply Midori) which was published in 2004. She has played (and perhaps still plays) the famous 1734 Huberman Guarnerius. A wonderful CD and DVD of her Carnegie Hall recital (1990) are still available. Here is a sample from the DVD posted on YouTube.
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.
