Alina Pogostkina

Alina Pogostkina is a Russian violinist born (in Leningrad) on November 18, 1983.  She began her lessons at age 4 with her father and gave her first concert one year later.  When she was 8 years old (1992), her family moved to Heidelberg, Germany.  According to one source, she and both of her parents - both are violinists – for some time made a living playing on the street.  Marie Hall did essentially the same thing in England, though without her parents.  Pogostkina is said to favor modern music.  She attended the Advanced School for Music in Berlin, studying with Antje Weithaas.  Along the way, she participated in several competitions, eventually winning the Jean Sibelius Competition in Helsinki in December of 2005, using a modern violin by Falk Peters.  She had already won the Louis Spohr Competition in 1997 (Freiburg, Germany) at age 14.  She also participated in the Queen Elizabeth and the Indianapolis Violin Competitions (2001 and 2002, respectively.)  Pogostkina now plays all over the world, accompanied by the best orchestras and the best conductors.  She also participates in quite a few music festivals around the world.  Her sound and technique is similar to Hilary Hahn’s – very crisp, emphatic, and clean with flawless intonation - but her musicianship is different.  YouTube has a few videos of her performances.  One is here, showing a complete (and spectacular) performance of the Sibelius concerto.  For a while, she was playing a 1709 Stradivarius violin, a loan from the German Music Instrument Fund.  Pogostkina now plays a modern violin by ChristianBayon.  Of course, if you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I absolutely favor modern violins over any old instrument.  The reason is that they are at least equal to any Amati, Strad, Guadagnini, Goffriller, or Guarneri and, in most cases, much better.  

Regina Strinasacchi

Regina Strinasacchi was an Italian violinist, singer, composer, and guitarist born (in Ostiglia, near Mantua, Italy) in 1764.  Her date of birth has been obscured since the day she was born, perhaps because she was illegitimately born.  Most sources give the year of her birth as 1764.  Three sources give it as February 28, 1761.  We only know of her today because she once played a violin sonata written for her for a recital she played for the Austrian Emperor (Joseph II) and other aristocrats on April 29, 1784.  Mozart was her accompanist.  Articles about her are often linked to those dealing with Maddalena Lombardini because both grew up in similar circumstances.  The sonata Mozart wrote for Strinasacchi was his number 15 for the instrument, K454.  He wrote 18 violin sonatas in all, although these are only the ones composed as a mature artist – he composed 18 more as a child.  Strinasacchi was educated at the Ospedale della Pieta (an orphanage for girls) in Venice, where Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) had twice been the music director.  From around 1780, she toured as a soloist in Italy, France, and Germany.  She was 16 years old (if the 1764 year of her birth is correct), a very young age at which to be touring.  It has not been unusual for performers to present themselves as being younger than they really are, so an earlier year of birth is quite possible.  She finally got to Vienna in 1784, playing one concert in March then again that fateful day in April.  Mozart was very impressed with her playing – documented in a letter to his father - and the recital they presented was very successful.  Nonetheless, since the sonata was only completed the day before the recital – allowing Strinasacchi exactly one day to learn it - Mozart was obliged to play his part from memory because he did not have time to write the piano part.  For him, that would not have been a problem at all.  In 1785, Strinasacchi married Johann Konrad Schlick, a very fine cellist, composer, and director of the orchestra at the court in Gotha.  At least one source guesses that Strinasacchi actually played regularly in her husband’s orchestra, perhaps becoming the first female orchestral player in history.  However, there is no proof that she either played in or conducted the orchestra.  In 1786, the couple had a daughter (Caroline), a pianist who later became an actress.  In 1801, they had a son (Johann) who became a cellist and a luthier.  That same year, Louis Spohr was appointed concertmaster of the Gotha orchestra.  Whether the Schlick family was still there or remained there is unknown.  That is very likely the case.  Strinasacchi’s husband died in 1818 – one source says 1825.  She subsequently moved from Gotha to Dresden with her son.  Most sources state that her final performance took place in Rome in 1809.  She would have then apparently been 45 years old.  However, in the only letter of hers which has been found, dated 1824, she tells a friend that she is still making music.  Whether it refers to private playing or public is anyone’s guess.  It is known that the 1718 Stradivarius she played was sold to Louis Spohr in 1822.  It quickly became his favorite violin.  That violin eventually ended up with Miriam Fried, though it passed through at least ten others before getting to her, including August Kompel, Paul Stassevitch, and the notorious W.E. Hill violin dealer.  Strinasacchi died in Dresden on June 11, 1839, at (perhaps) age 75.  Mozart had been dead for 47 years. 

Joan Field

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. 

Albert Markov

Albert Markov is a Russian (Ukrainian) violinist, composer, pedagogue, and conductor born on May 8, 1933 (Heifetz was 32 years old.)  He occupies a place in the musical firmament which is unique in the 20th and 21^st centuries – he is the only concert violinist who is also a composer of major works and concertos.  Not since Emile Sauret (1852-1920), Jeno Hubay (1858-1937), and Albert Spalding (1888-1953) did any violinist of international stature produce not only symphonic works, but violin concertos which he himself performed, in keeping with a longstanding tradition which included Tartini, Vivaldi, Paganini, Spohr, Viotti, Wieniawski, Vieuxtemps, DeBeriot, Chevalier DeSaint George, and Joseph Joachim.  Of course, Eugene Ysaye, Pablo Sarasate, Kreisler, Milstein, Heifetz and others wrote or arranged many recital pieces or cadenzas but it stopped there – no operas, symphonies, tone poems, rhapsodies, or concertos came from their pens.  In addition, not since David Oistrakh and Leonid Kogan, has a concert violinist produced a son who is also a concert violinist, in this case, Alexander Markov.  (In fact, Alexander Markov has never had a teacher besides his father.  Zino Francescatti and Daniel Barenboim also never studied with anyone other than their father.)  He began his violin studies as a child but by age ten he was studying with Jacob Meksin and the legendary pedagogue, Peter Stolyarsky.  Composition he studied with Henrich Litinsky and Aram Khachaturian.  He graduated from the Gnessin Academy in Moscow in 1960.  By then, he had already won the Gold Medal at the Queen Elizabeth (Belgium) Violin Competition (1959) and gold medals at other European and Russian competitions (1957-1964.)  He concertized extensively in Russia and Europe from that point forward.  A highlight of one of his European tours was an appearance with Rostropovitch (cellist) in Holland in 1964 with Khachaturian conducting.  From 1960 to 1975, he was a soloist with the Moscow State Philharmonic as well as a professor at the Gnessin Academy in Moscow.  In December of 1975 he came to the U.S.  His U.S. debut on May 24, 1976 was memorable and unusual because it was not in New York but in Houston (Eddy Brown’s U.S. debut was in Indianapolis, Isaac Stern’s in San Francisco, Iso Briselli’s in Philadelphia), where he played Paganini’s second violin concerto (b minor.)  (He later recorded this concerto with the Moscow Radio Orchestra, Rozhdestvensky conducting – very likely the best recording of this work in existence.)  His Carnegie Hall debut came later and, from that point, Markov’s concertizing became international in scope.  In 1977 he was appointed to the faculty of the Mannes College of Music (New York), where he stayed until 1979.  In 1981 he began to teach at the Manhattan School of Music (where he still teaches) and from 2007 has also taught at the Long Island Conservatory.  Markov has also served on the juries of the Tchaikovsky and the Paganini Violin Competitions and led many music festivals and master classes around the world.  In May of 1994, Markov embarked on a tour of Russia after an absence of almost twenty years.  In 1999, he formed the Rondo Chamber Orchestra, based in Bennington, Vermont, which he has conducted ever since.  His recordings are on the Melodia, Sunrise, Musical Heritage Society, and RMS labels.  Most of his prolific output has been published by Muzyka and Kompositor in Russia as well as Schirmer’s and RMS in the U.S.  His violin method book, Violin Technique is also available worldwide.  It has been said (by Bernard Holland of the New York Times) that Markov's pedagogy “avoids the traditional teaching of hand positions and fingerings on the violin….  Markov also breaks the art of bowing into three basic positions - another departure from ordinary teaching practices.”  There are many videos of his playing on YouTube and several audio recordings on the Classical Connect website as well.  Markov’s instruments have included a Stradivarius, an Antonio Gagliano, and a Sergio Peresson (based in Philadelphia, Peresson is considered to be the world’s best violin maker of the modern era - he was in so much demand he had to stop taking orders for new instruments in 1982.)  Markov’s compositions include two operas, a violin concerto, a Suite for violin and orchestra, a symphony, 3 Rhapsodies for violin and orchestra, a string quartet, 2 sonatas for solo violin, various works for two violins, 9 works for violin and piano, vocal works, piano pieces, works for viola, at least 20 cadenzas for various violin concertos (including those of Paganini, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms), and no fewer than 70 arrangements of works by various composers.

Wilhelm Molique

Wilhelm Bernhard Molique was a German violinist and composer born on October 7, 1802 (Beethoven was 32 years old.) He was one of Louis Spohr’s pupils. At age 18 he was the concertmaster of the court orchestra in Munich (1820-1826.) In 1822, he undertook his first European concert tour. From 1826 to 1849 he was the concertmaster and royal music director in Stuttgart. He made his London debut (playing his violin concerto No. 5) in 1840 (some sources say this happened in May of 1849.) Molique lived in London from 1849 to 1866 and taught at the Royal Academy there from 1861 to 1866. By then, he had already enjoyed a busy career as a concert violinist. Having retired from teaching in 1866, he returned to Stuttgart in that same year. He wrote six violin concertos which are now totally forgotten but which were popular in his day. He also composed an oratorio (“Abraham”), a symphony, four concertos for different instruments, two masses, chamber music, and small solo pieces. His instrument of choice was a Guarnerius. Molique died in Germany on May 10, 1869, at age 66. 

Guido Papini

Guido Papini was an Italian violinist born on August 1, 1847 (Brahms was 14 years old.) It is said that he studied alongside Leopold Auer, though that is highly questionable. He was initially a pupil of a teacher named Giorgetti and made his debut at the age of 13 playing Louis Spohr’s third Concerto. He is known for being one of the early editors of Paganini’s 24 Caprices for solo violin and for having owned the Ex-Vieuxtemps Guarnerius Del Gesu (1739.) He became the leader of the Quartet Society of the City of Florence, where he was born, as well as the Court Violinist to the Queen of Italy. Papini made his English debut in 1874 (at age 27), at the Musical Union and later at the Crystal Palace with the London Symphony Society. His Paris debut took place in 1876 at the Concerts de Pasdeloup and the Bordeaux Philharmonic Concerts. Thereafter, he regularly toured throughout Europe, making England his home. In 1893, he accepted the post of head of the violin department at the Dublin Conservatory. In 1896, he returned to London, where he dedicated a good deal of time to composing a large body of works (which are now never played) and taught at the Royal Academy in London. Papini died in London on October 3, 1912, at age 65.

Willy Hess

Willy Hess was a German violinist and teacher born on July 14, 1859 (Brahms was 26 years old.) He first studied with his father, who was a student of Louis Spohr, and later with Joseph Joachim. He was the concertmaster of the opera orchestra in Frankfurt from 1878 to 1886. Thereafter he taught violin at the Rotterdam Conservatory from 1886 to 1888. He then left to sit first chair in the Halle Orchestra (1888-1895.) From there, he went to the Cologne Conservatory (1895-1903.) For six years he was the concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1904-1910.) While there, he also taught at Harvard University. In 1910, he moved back to Berlin to teach violin at the Hochschule (Academy for Music) after receiving an invitation some time in March of that year. Hess worked closely with composer Max Bruch for a time and even premiered some of his violin works. Adolf Busch, Henri Temianka, and Arthur Fiedler were among his many students. It has been said that Hess was a tall and slender man, in the style of Paganini. He also sometimes sported a beard. I have no photos of him, only his autograph, with a quote from the Beethoven violin concerto. Hess died in Berlin on the eve of World War Two - February 17, 1939.

Henri Vieuxtemps

Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps (Henri Vieuxtemps) was a Belgian violinist, composer, and teacher born on February 17, 1820 (Beethoven was about 49 years old). He first studied with his father and gave his first concert at age 6. When soon afterward he started touring, he met the famous De Beriot in Brussels and began taking lessons from him. He travelled to Paris in 1829 to continue studying with De Beriot. In 1830, back in Brussels, he studied on his own. In 1833, he toured Germany and was praised by Louis Spohr and Robert Schumann. When Vieuxtemps debuted in London in 1834, Paganini himself attended the concert. Having established himself in Paris, he continued to tour extensively but also began composing seriously (at which he was very successful) in 1835. Between 1846 and 1851, he made Russia his home and in fact founded the violin school at the St Petersburg Conservatory, later made famous by Leopold Auer. By 1871, he was back in Brussels teaching at the Conservatory. Eugene Ysaye was one of his pupils there. His compositions include seven violin concertos (number 5 being the most frequently played), two cello concertos and some chamber music. All of his violin concertos have been recorded and are presently available. Vieuxtemps died in June of 1881, at age 61. 

Louis Spohr

Louis Spohr was a German violinist, composer, and conductor born on April 5, 1784 (Mozart was 28 years old.). He began to study at an early age, though I have no idea how early. His first job as a violinist was as an orchestra musician when he was 15 years old (1799). As a result of a public concert in 1804, Spohr became an overnight success. In 1805, he was made concertmaster of the court orchestra at Gotha where he stayed until 1812. In 1813, he became conductor of the Vienna Theatre and later, in 1817 opera director in Frankfurt. From 1822 until 1859, he was director of music at the court at Kassel. Someone has said that the portrait at left is a self-portrait so Spohr - it can be assumed - was a painter, too. He was definitely a prolific composer (and even composed several operas) but is best known (among violinists) for his Violin Concerto number 8. Spohr died in October, 1859.

Ole Bull

Ole Bull (Ole Bornemann Bull) was a Norwegian violinist and composer born on this day (February 5) in 1810 (Beethoven was 40 years old). At the early age of 9, he was a soloist with the Bergen Music Society. He studied briefly with Louis Spohr, although he disliked him. Ole Bull was not one to do things formally or by the book but he became a very successful performer and knew many of the outstanding musicians of his day, some of whom admired him greatly. Perhaps he was a lot like Franz Clement, the violinist who commissioned Beethoven's violin concerto. In 1829, Bull played in Copenhagen and Kassel and in 1831 he travelled to Paris. He was 21 years old. He is said to have killed a man in a duel. He concertized a great deal in England, Ireland, and America, making quite a bit of money. The great fortune he made was badly invested several times but he always recovered by taking up the violin and touring again. His second wife was young enough to be his granddaughter, but the marriage was a happy one. Eugene Ysaye was like Ole Bull in this respect - in his old age, he married a woman 44 years younger than he was. Bull's first concert in America took place on November 25, 1843. He was 33 years old. His first violin seems to have been a 1734 Guarnerius.  He later acquired a 1690 Stradivarius and a 1687 Stradivarius which now bears his name.  That violin was later played by Paul Kochanski then still later by Iso Briselli.  A 1647 Amati and a 1610 Gasparo Bertolotti may have been Ole Bull's last instruments.  Bertolotti (aka Da Salo) was one of the earliest known violin makers.  It appears Ole Bull went backwards in the age of his violins - the older he got, the older his violins, too.  Bull died on August 18, 1880, at age 71. One of his violin concertos can be heard here. It is surely one of the most bombastic works for violin ever written and gives an indication to his performing style. 

Ferdinand David

Ferdinand David was a German violinist, teacher, and composer born on January 20, 1810 (Beethoven was 40 years old.) While still very young, he studied with Louis Spohr among other teachers. In 1826 (at age 16), he joined the Royal Theatre Orchestra in Berlin. In 1829 he toured as first violinist with a string quartet whose name I do not know. In 1835 (at age 25), he became concertmaster of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig and professor of violin at the Leipzig Conservatory in 1843. He is best remembered for having played the premiere of Felix Mendelssohn’s violin concerto in e minor, quite possibly the most popular violin concerto ever written. David thus became the most famous concertmaster in history.* He also made several suggestions which Mendelssohn incorporated into the final revision. English violinist Daniel Hope plays (and has recorded) Mendelssohn's original version which to my ears sounds a little archaic. Even if just a few notes here and there are different, the version we are familiar with is considerably more Romantic in style. I think Mendelssohn owes Ferdinand David a debt of gratitude. David wrote two symphonies, five violin concertos, an opera, and an assortment of other works which nobody plays today, except for his trombone concerto. He also edited the works of other composers, most notably the Partitas for solo violin of J.S. Bach and the Chaconne by Tomaso Vitali. David died on July 19, 1873, at age 63. Mendelssohn had been dead for 26 years. 
*only Steven Staryk and Mischa Mischakoff rival him in that arena.