Carl-Victor

I have been listening to this work at least once a week for the past six months, and it just keeps growing on me. (I have the Oliveira/London Phiharmonic CD, 1991). I simply cannot understand why it isn't more highly praised. It is ravishing. Perhaps it just takes a violinist to appreciate its depth and artistry. Did past greats record this? Any favorites through the years??

Interesting ; reminds me of a situation a few weeks ago when the oboes hadn't yet made it to the rehearsal so we had to tune to the clarinet instead. Yes, I definitely think the strings should have already tuned but inevitably people rush onto the stage at the last minute.

I have always wondered : why does the concertmaster in some orchestras tune the various sections in order, whereas in others all the players tune at once? Is it a matter of professionalism? And just what is the proper order? Aren't the winds tuned first generally since the strings go out of tune more quickly? I have yet to hear a really satisfying answer to this. Also, when should the tuning take place : after the conductor arrives at the podium, or before?

It's my understanding that Szeryng donated his 1734 Stradivari to the State of Israel in 1972. Does anyone know the conditions of its current usage? The original intent was to have it available for promising young Israeli violinists. Is it loaned out for specific periods or for particular concerts?

I finally managed to read the full N Y Times obit and it gave some further information. One of the notable events was Varga's premiering of Jeno Hubay's 3rd violin concerto in 1937, just after Hubay's death. I am not familiar with this work but now will have to find it. Apparently Varga was taught within the Budapest school by Hubay's most accomplished proteges, as he was two generations removed from Hubay himself, and thus even a generation younger than Szigeti. I believe he was a direct heir of the tradition handed down via Vieuxtemps, who was Hubay's teacher. Another great loss from that wonderful tradition.

GRIMISUAT, Switzerland (AP) - Tibor Varga, a conductor and violinist known for his teaching and for his performances of Bela Bartok and other modern masters, has died at 82, his wife said. Varga died Thursday at his home in Grimisuat, Switzerland, said his wife, Angelika. Varga was born in Hungary and made his public debut with Mendelsohn's E minor concerto when he was 10. He began touring in Europe while a teenager and studied in Budapest and in Berlin. After World War II he performed widely as a violin virtuoso. In 1947 he moved to England, where he obtained British citizenship. He founded the Tibor Varga Chamber Orchestra in Detmold, Germany, in 1954, then moved to Switzerland, where he was based the rest of his life. He continued to conduct the Detmold-based orchestra until 1988. Varga started a summer school in 1963 and organized the Tibor Varga Festival in Sion the following year. An annual violin competition is held in Sion, Switzerland in his honor. His repertoire covered baroque, classical and romantic works, but he was best known for his performances of modern composers like Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Berg. Varga is also survived by his son, Gilbert Varga, likewise an orchestral conductor, and his daughter, Suzanne Rybicki.

This may be a bit toungue-in-cheek, but isn't the most important violinist the last stand second violin? After all, isn't an orchestra only as good as its least accomplished member? Obviously, the best orchestras don't hire anyone without great credentials, but I am thinking more about community and university orchestras, which generally have half a dozen good players, and a lot of barely adequate ones filling up the back spaces.

The violin owned by Thibaud and lost during his fatal airplane crash was a 1709 Stradivari, and owned by Baillot at one time, I believe. I am curious as to what current methods are used to try to keep similarly valuable instruments from vanishing in case of crashes or other disasters? Are they sent in some type of indestructible case, sort of a "black box"? Does the amount of insurance depend on the strength of the case?

I had my curiosity piqued by watching Oistrakh and Kogan playing excerpts from this work on the "Art of Violin" and listened again to my old LP of Oistrakh. Have there been any particularly nice recordings since? Did Heifetz ever make a version? Any others from the Golden Age? Menuhin, Szeryng, etc. Newer artists?

This is quite fascinating. I never knew that some players deliberately choose 7/8 or other smaller violins. This raises another question : are there players who play larger instruments (9/8 violins??) in order to produce a fuller sound?

I haven't seen this but I do recall seeing Elman on the show in the early 60s. Didn't Zimbalist appear as well?

I wish I had spent a far greater portion of my time on Earth playing chamber music. I have missed out on so much of the great inspired string quartet literature, not to mention trios, quintets, etc. etc. I was sort of sold on the idea that playing in an orchestra was the only way to succeed, but now play in all kinds of small groups, from tango bands to folk ensembles. And I'm only just beginning to explore the oceans of excellent quartet recordings. Why isn't this aspect of string playing emphasized more among the young? color>

Yes, this is an interesting use of the semibreve rest. Here is the definition of the usage: The Whole Bar Rest While, in general, every bar will contain the number of beats set by the time signature, in the form of beats, notes or both, there are two occasions where a bar might appear to have an incorrect number of beats. The first of these is where a whole bar rest, identical to the semibreve rest has been used. The time value of a whole bar rest is set by the time signature.

I've been thinking about this and wondering whether the double harmonics sounded more musical when played on gut strings. And another question arises : would Paganini himself even have used vibrato at all in such passages (was vibrato particularly common during his era)?

Excellent! Still as fine a musician as when I heard him live back in 1978. Do you know what he is playing on the Wieniawksi (makes of violin and bow)?

First of all, Happy New Year's to all, and may music be part of your celebrations. I have been investigating biographies of some early 20th century violinists and came across a reference which has piqued my curiosity. In researching the life of Irma Seydel, an outstanding American virtuoso from Boston, I came across a reference to the "Boston Women's Symphony", of which she was concertmaster(mistress?) in the late 1920s. Now, this brings up several questions: 1) could she not have been a member of the Boston Symphony of that era (all-male?); 2) were there many other "alternative" women's symphonies at the time in other cities for oustanding female players, and were they well-regarded?; 3) did these orchestras make any recordings, and who conducted them? 4) what was the nature of these orchestras' finances (subscription, public, amateur voluntary ???) Just a few questions, probably many more could be asked.

A friend has asked me whether 2 years old is too young to begin the violin. I honestly feel that it is too young (I started at age 10), but am seeking advice on this from teachers or experts. Any help would be appreciated. I always thought of age 3 as the youngest simply from the biographies of violinists that I've read.

Thank you for the insightful review of the concert. I am wondering if Mr. Zukerman is currently teaching and whether he has any particularly outstanding students; also, what, if any, style of bowing does he use? On another tack, where would you rate him as a violist?

A few of my favorites, traversing the past 100 years (no particular order either, and just the first fifteen or so!) : Ysaye Menuhin Oistrakh Rabin Milstein Rybar Heifetz Francescatti Spivakovsky Kogan Morini Enescu Zimmerman Thibaud

Thanks to everyone who responded to my original post. I now have great resources for pursuing the duet literature. My partner in the duet and I continue working on the DeBeriot and will take up some of the others eventually. It occured to me today that a great duet for an experienced and a not-so-experienced violin duo would be the Bach Chaconne with the added chorale part recently believed to be have been based on Bach's requiem for his deceased first wife? Would this work for two violins?

I recently was listening a Wieniawski violin duet, which I recorded from a radio program some years ago (Performance today). I would like to know why are there no established "great" duets as there are for unaccompanied violin, or violin and Orchestra (Bach)? I believe that this is a fantastic combination. Was it overlooked by the major composers? Did the violinist-composers simply concentrate on solo violin? Or is there something inherently difficult about writing well for 2 violins alone? Does anyone have suggestions as to what other duets should be listened to or played? In looking through the Shar catalog I see many works, but are any of great musical value? I am familiar with the J.C. Bach, but are there others of merit? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Just wanted to thank everyone for the responses. I know this follow-on question may seem a bit picky, but I have also noticed that some of the weaker players simply avoid using the even positions if possible. That is, they constantly shift through the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th positions without using the 2nd, 4th, and 6th, (or half-position also) which are even written in and much easier. I realize this is no big deal in a local orchestra and it's fine just to have a full section that can even play the music at all (Sibelius and Khachaturian this season). My question is this : in major orchestras are all the members required to use precisely the same fingerings for all pieces? Is there some sort of penalty if they don't, such as a glare from the other players? Or is this a sort of cat-and-mouse game with some members simply refusing to follow the concertmaster's advice? Just curious.

I have a question concerning the marking of bowings, fingerings, etc. I have recently been assigned to a first violin section where the concertmaster and her stand partner are constantly discussing and changing bowings during the rehearsals, and the rest of us are supposed to somehow scribble in all of these changes during the rehearsal. Very irritating. Shouldn't all of the bowings have been worked out prior to the first rehearsal? Or at the very least, shouldn't changes be discussed during the sectional? This is a community orchestra, although a very good one. I have also had this experience with a major university orchestra. How is this done with major orchestras? This concertmaster is paid, by the way. Any thoughts on the correct way this should be accomplished?

Question? ..... I bought a "Yehudi Menuhin" rest from Shar a few years ago and tried it off and on a few times since. I never could get used to it and finally gave it away. Now I either use nothing at all or ocassionally a Kun. My question regards Menuhin. Did he actually design this model or just lend his name. It is very ornamental-looking. And did he ever use it himself?

Has anyone heard this rendition? It had a nice review elsewhere: Erich Wolfgang KORNGOLD Sinfonietta (1912) Violin Concerto (1945) Ulrike-Anima Mathé (violin) Dallas SO/Andrew Litton rec Nov 1994, Dallas DORIAN DOR-90216 [70.06]