Peter
Rybar was a Czech violinist and teacher born (in Vienna, Austria) on August 29,
1913. His playing style was not showy
and flashy but he was very well regarded as a soloist and concertmaster -
Rybar’s recordings (mostly produced prior to 1960) are now collector’s
items. (His recording of the Bach Double
Concerto (for two violins) with Henryk Szeryng is probably the best I have ever
heard.) Nonetheless, as were so many
other artists of the time, he was eclipsed by the likes of Heifetz, Ricci, Oistrakh,
Menuhin, Milstein, Francescatti, Kogan, Grumiaux, and a few other soloists who
performed in the limelight during the same period. Like Szeryng, he became fluent in seven
languages, although (ironically) English was his mother tongue. His first teacher (a pupil of both Otakar
Sevcik and Cesar Thomson) was his mother.
He then studied in Geneva and Leipzig with teachers whom I don’t know
anything about. He eventually (in 1929,
at age 16) ended up at the Prague Conservatory where he spent three years
(perhaps more.) One of his teachers there
was Josef Suk - the elder Josef Suk (1874-1935.) (There are three Josef Suk: the grandfather (composer
and son-in-law of Antonin Dvorak); the father (an engineer but also an
accomplished amateur violinist); and the son (the well-known concert violinist.) Rybar also later (from 1934 onward) studied
with Carl Flesch in Paris. By then, he
had already begun his concertizing career (at age 19) and been playing
professionally for at least two years. He
toured Europe many times and became known for playing the Bach Sonatas and
Partitas for unaccompanied violin to which he had dedicated more than a year of
study during a sabbatical in Portugal. Although
he did not premiere the piece (Samuel Dushkin did in Berlin), Rybar was the
first to play the Stravinsky violin concerto (composed in 1931) in Prague and
in Paris. He was also the first to
record the Goldmark and the Viotti (number 22 in a minor) concertos. In 1937 (some sources say 1938), he was hired
as violin professor at the Winterthur Conservatory (one of the oldest in
Europe) and as concertmaster of the Winterthur Symphony in Switzerland. He was 25 years old. (Winterthur can almost be considered a suburb
of Zurich.) In 1952, he formed a duo
with his wife who was a pianist. He
retired from his posts (as well as first violinist in the orchestra’s string
quartet) after about 30 years. In 1970,
he was persuaded to abandon his retirement to become concertmaster of the
Orchestra of the Suisse Romande in Geneva.
At the same time, he began teaching at the Geneva Conservatory. He was 57 years old by then. In 1980, he left the orchestra but I don’t
know if he left the conservatory as well.
He often gave recitals with pianists Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, and
Helene Boschi. He also sometimes
partnered with Clara Haskil as well (who often accompanied Arthur Grumiaux) in
recitals and recordings. Rybar last
played in public in 1986. His
discography is not extensive but it fills at least two dozen CDs and includes
the standard concertos as well as some not-often-heard works like the Tartini d
minor concerto and the Schumann concerto.
A few of his hard-to-find recordings are priced at over one thousand
dollars. Here is a YouTube audio file of
the Tartini concerto. Rybar died in
Lugano, Switzerland, on October 4, 2002 at age 89.
Showing posts with label Peter Rybar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter Rybar. Show all posts
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Peter Rybar
Peter
Rybar was a Czech violinist and teacher born (in Vienna, Austria) on August 29,
1913. His playing style was not showy
and flashy but he was very well regarded as a soloist and concertmaster -
Rybar’s recordings (mostly produced prior to 1960) are now collector’s
items. (His recording of the Bach Double
Concerto (for two violins) with Henryk Szeryng is probably the best I have ever
heard.) Nonetheless, as were so many
other artists of the time, he was eclipsed by the likes of Heifetz, Ricci, Oistrakh,
Menuhin, Milstein, Francescatti, Kogan, Grumiaux, and a few other soloists who
performed in the limelight during the same period. Like Szeryng, he became fluent in seven
languages, although (ironically) English was his mother tongue. His first teacher (a pupil of both Otakar
Sevcik and Cesar Thomson) was his mother.
He then studied in Geneva and Leipzig with teachers whom I don’t know
anything about. He eventually (in 1929,
at age 16) ended up at the Prague Conservatory where he spent three years
(perhaps more.) One of his teachers there
was Josef Suk - the elder Josef Suk (1874-1935.) (There are three Josef Suk: the grandfather (composer
and son-in-law of Antonin Dvorak); the father (an engineer but also an
accomplished amateur violinist); and the son (the well-known concert violinist.) Rybar also later (from 1934 onward) studied
with Carl Flesch in Paris. By then, he
had already begun his concertizing career (at age 19) and been playing
professionally for at least two years. He
toured Europe many times and became known for playing the Bach Sonatas and
Partitas for unaccompanied violin to which he had dedicated more than a year of
study during a sabbatical in Portugal. Although
he did not premiere the piece (Samuel Dushkin did in Berlin), Rybar was the
first to play the Stravinsky violin concerto (composed in 1931) in Prague and
in Paris. He was also the first to
record the Goldmark and the Viotti (number 22 in a minor) concertos. In 1937 (some sources say 1938), he was hired
as violin professor at the Winterthur Conservatory (one of the oldest in
Europe) and as concertmaster of the Winterthur Symphony in Switzerland. He was 25 years old. (Winterthur can almost be considered a suburb
of Zurich.) In 1952, he formed a duo
with his wife who was a pianist. He
retired from his posts (as well as first violinist in the orchestra’s string
quartet) after about 30 years. In 1970,
he was persuaded to abandon his retirement to become concertmaster of the
Orchestra of the Suisse Romande in Geneva.
At the same time, he began teaching at the Geneva Conservatory. He was 57 years old by then. In 1980, he left the orchestra but I don’t
know if he left the conservatory as well.
He often gave recitals with pianists Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, and
Helene Boschi. He also sometimes
partnered with Clara Haskil as well (who often accompanied Arthur Grumiaux) in
recitals and recordings. Rybar last
played in public in 1986. His
discography is not extensive but it fills at least two dozen CDs and includes
the standard concertos as well as some not-often-heard works like the Tartini d
minor concerto and the Schumann concerto.
A few of his hard-to-find recordings are priced at over one thousand
dollars. Here is a YouTube audio file of
the Tartini concerto. Rybar died in
Lugano, Switzerland, on October 4, 2002 at age 89. 
Saturday, March 20, 2010
List of Violinists part three
M-R: Nicolai Madoyev, Ara Malikian, Bracha Malkin, Robert Mann, Andrew Manze, Alexander Markov, Henri Marteau, Neville Marriner, Mihaela Martin, Johanna Martzy, Ralph Matson, Petri Mattson, Edouard Matzener, David McCarroll, Yuri Medianik, Tymur Melnyk, Yehudi Menuhin, Joseph Meyer, Anne Akiko Meyers, Stefan Milenkovich, Nathan Milstein, Shlomo Mintz, Steven Moeckel, Alma Moodie, Barennie Moon, Erica Morini, Victoria Mullova, Irina Muresanu, Anne Sophie Mutter, David Nadien, Ginette Neveu, Piotr Nikiforoff, Kurt Nikkanen, Gordan Nikolitch, Takako Nishizaki, Siegmund Nissel, Domenico Nordio, Mark O'Connor, David Oistrakh, Igor Oistrakh, Valery Oistrakh, Raphael Oleg, Elmar Oliveira, Theo Olof, Sergey Ostrovsky, Michaela Paetsch, Rusanda Panfili, Susie Park, Gyorgy Pauk, Marek Pavelec, Elisa Pegreffi, Adela Pena, Myvanwy Penny, Itzhak Perlman, Louis Persinger, Anna Petrova, Johanna Pichlmair, Christine Pichlmeir, Igor Pikaysen, Elizabeth Pitcairn, Rachel Podger, Alina Pogostkina, Anton Polezhayev, Hristo Popov, Maud Powell, Andrej Power, Hubert Pralitz, William Preucil, Vasa Prihoda, Liviu Prunaru, William Pu, Rodrigo Puskas, Anastasia Pylatyuk, Riele Queling, Philip Quint, Julian Rachlin, Manuel Ramos, Nazrin Rashidova, Helena Rathbone, Henry Raudales, Jonathan Rees, Jesus Reina, Ossy Renardi, Vadim Repin, Yuri Revich, Gerardo Ribeiro, Ruggiero Ricci, Nate Robinson, Aaron Rosand, David Rubinoff, Peter Rybar.
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