The voice

I most definitely agree with this quote from concert violinist Giora Schmidt: ”There is a great tradition of violin playing that I think is dangerously getting lost,” Schmidt said, over a lunch of Panini in downtown Miami, ”the generation when violinists had their own voices. There’s a weight to the sound, a tension to the sound that grabs you. It’s seasoned with vibrato, and it’s seasoned with a spoken element. Today when you turn on the radio, everybody sounds great, but if you ask me who’s playing, I don’t know.”

Tomaso Albinoni

Tomaso Albinoni (Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni) was an Italian violinist and composer born on June 8, 1671 (Bach would not be born until 14 years later.) He is known for his oboe concertos, though he wrote quite a lot of other music. Coming from a wealthy family, he never had to work for the nobility. Very little is known about his personal life. His 50 operas are unknown today, except to musicologists. Albinoni died on January 17, 1751, at age 79.

New York Times

One of my favorite music quotes: “The violin is a fiendish device that sometimes seems to have been specifically invented to torture all those who study it and all who find themselves within hearing range. Although many learn to manipulate it well enough to please themselves and occasionally others, it is rare to find a violinist who has mastered the instrument's problems to such an extent that all its difficulties are hidden.” Donal Henahan, 1983

Jaime Laredo

Jaime Laredo is a Bolivian violinist, conductor, and teacher born on June 7, 1941 (Heifetz was 40 years old.) He began the study of the violin in Bolivia when he was five years old. Two years later, he came to the U.S. where he studied with Josef Gingold and Ivan Galamian among others. His orchestral debut came at age 11 with the San Francisco Symphony. His diploma is from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where he studied with Ivan Galamian and George Szell. In 1958, he won the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Competition – the youngest violinist to do so. In 1960, he debuted in Carnegie Hall. His Royal Albert Hall (London) debut followed close behind (1961.) He is known for being incredibly busy. Among other activities, he is the artistic advisor for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the conductor of the Vermont Symphony (since 1999), instructor of violin at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (since 1971), jury president for the Indianapolis International Violin Competition (since 1994), artistic director of the Brandenburg Ensemble, artistic director of the Chamber Music at the Y series (New York), professor of violin at Indiana University, violinist with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, recording artist (RCA, Columbia, Sony, Chandos, Vox, Arabesque, and Virgin Classics labels among others), recitalist, and concert violinist. Hilary Hahn and Pamela Frank are among his many pupils. 

Leopold Auer

Leopold Auer was a Hungarian violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer born on June 7, 1845 (Brahms was 12 years old.) He was born in a small town and first studied with Kohne in Budapest then with Dont in Vienna but stopped in 1858 when the scholarship money from his wealthy patrons ran out. At that point, being only 13 years of age, he was actually forced to start playing for a living. Auer went on to study with Joseph Joachim for two very critical years in Hanover (1861-1863.) From there, he went to work as an orchestral musician in Dusseldorf and Hamburg. In 1868, a trip to London proved fruitful. There, he met pianist Anton Rubinstein, who invited him to teach at the recently founded (1862) St Petersburg Conservatory. The rest is history, since Auer stayed on for 49 years. Nevertheless, Auer continued to play in the various orchestras of the Imperial Theatres and to perform extensively as soloist in other venues. He was also first violin of the string quartet of the Russian Musical Society for 38 years. He came to the U. S. in 1918, debuting in Carnegie Hall in March of that year – aged 73. He started teaching at the Juilliard School of Music in 1926 and at the Curtis Institute in 1928. Before then, he had taught privately from his home studio. Auer is remembered for refusing to play the Tchaikovsky violin concerto despite its having been dedicated to him and for having produced some of the finest violinists of the early Twentieth Century – Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Mischa Elman, Boris Chumachenko, Iso Briselli, Mishel Piastro, Kathleen Parlow, Toscha Seidel, Emil Mlynarski, and Efrem Zimbalist among them. He was also somewhat unusual in that, unlike most violinists, he did not idolize J.S. Bach, though he played some of Bach’s music for violin. In addition to three books on violin technique, he wrote some pieces which are now seldom played (if at all) and an arrangement of Paganini’s Twenty Fourth Caprice which Heifetz used to play. Auer died on July 15, 1930, at age 85 (Heifetz was 28 years old.)

Edward Elgar

Edward Elgar (Sir Edward William Elgar) was an English violinist and composer born on June 2, 1857 (Brahms was 24 years old.) During his early career, he struggled to establish himself as a composer and played in various orchestras and gave lessons in order to support himself. He began his study of the violin and piano at the age of 8 but was mostly self-taught as a composer. He learned much by arranging the music of classical composers for ensembles he played in as a young man. He did not achieve national recognition as a prominent composer until 1899, at age 42; however, by 1902, he was enjoying international fame. Today, he is remembered for his Enigma Variations (1899), violin concerto (1910), cello concerto (1919), and Pomp and Circumstance Marches. His Symphony No. 1 (1908) received over one hundred performances in its very first year, a feat probably unmatched by any other composer since then. One of his violin pupils was Marie Hall, though only for a very brief while. Elgar died in February 1934, at 76 years of age.

Corey Cerovsek

Corey Cerovsek is a Canadian violin prodigy born on April 24, 1972 (Heifetz was 71 years old.) In addition, he is a mathematician and accomplished pianist, having received advanced degrees in both music and math by age 16. Having already studied violin for a number of years, he began studying with Josef Gingold at Indiana University at age 12. He made his orchestral debut with the Calgary Philharmonic in 1981 and has been concertizing since age 16. Although an extraordinary performer and artist, he falls into that group of violinists who, for whatever reason, have not scaled the heights of public or critical recognition – Eugene Fodor, Phillipe Quint, and Vadim Gluzman come easily to mind.