Word: violins
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Hungarian, szigeti means "insular." All too often that precisely describes the life of the professional performing musician--no more extensive than the routine of performance. But Joseph Szigeti's life takes in the whole sea of adventure in and out of music. And his treasure ship is the violin...
...ship itself is a challenge. The strength of the violin cannot be power, and hence must be imaginative use of its resources. Music for the violin, he feels, is far more challenging than any other kind he knows...
These professionals live and learn in absolute informality under the guidance of Serkin and, since 1960, Cellist Pablo Casals, who annually makes the trip from Puerto Rico just for the festival. A clapboard barn has been turned into a communal dining room and studio; a second violin might rub elbows with Eugene Ormandy over a dish of veal and boiled potatoes, and everybody takes a turn at doing the waiting chores; last weekend two of the men on duty were Max Rabinovitsj, concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony, and Mischa Schneider of the Budapest Quartet...
...Gravely is a Los Angeles slum child, an unwanted bastard, and a musical genius. At five he steals a violin and teaches himself to play. At seven he sneaks into the empty Hollywood Bowl, sits down at the Steinway, improvises in an ecstasy that lasts all night. At 13, carrying a couple of stolen instruments, he heads east on a slow freight. He lands in New Orleans, immerses himself in jazz, and suffers a creative convulsion that brings him to the edge of madness. He follows his daemon to East Harlem, then on to Germany, where he composes an electronic...
...perfectionist with a penchant for turtleneck pullovers and gold-tipped Turkish cigarettes, Michelangeli has made only a few recordings because he has "never quite been satisfied with the quality of the sound." On tour he travels with his own Steinway ("Can you imagine Oistrakh playing with Stern's violin?") and personal piano tuner, 71-year-old Cesare Augustus Tallone. With a surgeon's knowledge of the piano's inner workings, Michelangeli treats his Steinway like a high-strung child, recently relinquished it to be overhauled, explaining: "It's still too young and hasn't been...