V.com weekend vote: Is your favorite violinist contemporary, or historical?
When you think about the violinist you most admire, who is it, and what is it that you admire about that musician? And for the sake of our vote this week, is that person contemporary, or historical?
A person can be your favorite violinist for many reasons - aesthetic, personal, historical, philosophical, political... It could be Heifetz for his technical prowess, Kreisler for his musicality, Suzuki for his beautiful philosophy of learning. It could be a historical figure such as Joseph Bologne or Maude Powell, whose playing we can't hear but who accomplished so much. It could be someone you have seen in concert or whose videos you cherish: Hilary Hahn, Augustin Hadelich, Ray Chen, Gil Shaham, Midori, Rachel Barton Pine - that list is very long. Or it could be someone quite close to you: your beloved teacher that made you love the instrument, or a fellow colleague that made you see everything a new way, a young person of a new generation who gives you inspiration.
I can remember a violin teacher asking me this question long ago when I was a college student, and I answered, "Eugene Fodor"! At the time, he would have been contemporary - sadly, now he is no longer with us. I named Fodor because I loved his playing, because I listened to a cassette of his Tchaikovsky Concerto so many times that the tape wore out, and because he was also from Denver, one of the very few internationally-renowned violinists from my home town.
My teacher was furious. "NO!" he boomed. "This is not your favorite violinist! Your new favorite violinist is HEIFETZ!"
Teachers could be like that, back in the day.
As far as I'm concerned, you are free to hold the highest regard for your favorite violinist, for whatever reasons you wish! Please participate in the vote, letting us know if your favorite violinist is contemporary or historical. Then in the comments tell us all about your favorite violinist and why he or she is your favorite. And, it's fine to talk about more than one!
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I think my favorite is Antonio Vivaldi. He wrote at least 230 violin concerto, including four great ones that are performed regularly today.
So many greats, both past and still with us, but my personal favorites are Hahn and Hadelich.
Isaac Stern. I'm not a fan of Jascha Heifetz, though I have and really like a Herrell signed photograph of him that's seen in the upper left of the above montage.
I would have to name Perlman as my favorite contemporary violinist.
Kreisler and Heifetz tied for first, but many great oldies if generally prefer to contemporaries.
Hilary Hahn, with Augustin Hadelich and Rachel Barton Pine close behind. Probably 7 of my top 10 favorites are actively performing today (the three from past eras being Heifetz, Milstein, and Oistrakh), though I admit my view may be colored by recording quality.
Hilary Hahn has to be my number 1. Her crispy and attacking sound is very unique to her and I love it so much. I really love the sound she makes and her artistic choices
James Ehnes and Gil Shaham are my top 2. I nearly bumped into Ehnes a few weeks ago!
I can't say that I had one favorite. So my historical favorites are:
Francescatti, Milstein, Szeryng, Stern, Heifetz, Menuhin, David Oistrakh, Rosand, and Grumiaux.
Contemporary favorites include: Ehness, Midori, K. Chung, Mutter, Shaham, Zuckerman, Hahn, Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, and Bell.
Of all the violinists on my list, I loved Francescatti's tone which was not only gorgeous and but so distinctive. Other such violinists whose tones set them apart so you knew immediately who was playing were: Kreisler, Heifetz, Stern and Szigeti. They were all great musicians too.
Gotta go with Divine David. I saw him in recital as a teen back in the 1960s. That said, there are plenty of other violinists I really like a lot, including my teacher for one year, Rene Benedetti who was fabulous both as a violinist and a teacher.
Augustin Hadelich, hands down.
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned the magnificent Janine Jansen, whose solo and chamber performances are impeccable and profoundly emotional.
It has been Heifetz for me since I saw the TV 1948 documentary repeated on TV at age 6. As Stern said he was in the inner ear of all contempoary violinists. I continue to be astonished that people emphasize his technical prowness and seem unaware of his amazing musicality and sensativity. Not to mention his intensity and related emotions. I strongly suspect most people don't really listen closely to his recordings. Attended his last recital when I was 21 in Oct. 1972. Listen to the recording of that concert.
There are so many, but Ray Chen stands out in my mind. I've never seen him perform in person but have enjoyed many recordings on the radio that turned out to be his performances. I am also very impressed by how humble he seems to be. Years ago, he was kind enough to respond to one of my v.com posts about where to buy a violin bow; in retrospect I should have thought of his answer myself. And in a recent member blog, I learned that he had agreed to give a Master Class for a string teacher's students.
David Oistrakh's soulfulness goes straight to my heart. I still haven't heard performances of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas which top Szeryng's mono recording. For me, emotional expressivity tops technical prowess.
Augustin Hadelich, Anne Akiko Meyers for their superb expressiveness.
Of the past greats, I was hugely impressed by Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin and Ida Haendel, all of whom I heard live. I was lucky enough to meet Menuhin and Haendel briefly. Francescatti I love, but from recordings only. I sometimes think sadly about Ginette Neveu and Christian Ferras.
I like Hadelich, Hahn, and Mutter among today's violinists. I also particularly like Philip Setzer and Eugene Drucker of the Emerson Quartet. Let's not forget there are some amazing violinists whose sound is integral to our listening experience even though they do not typically record concertos.
Among those of the past I enjoy Heifetz and Rosand. If I am studying a piece and listening to several recordings, Heifetz always seems to rise into the top few. Pity many of his recordings are not of modern quality but his tone (and Hahn's) will penetrate reinforced concrete.
My Choice Favourite GOAT Violinists!! {#19}
Wow!!! Many Violinist Colleagues already know who Two of my Top Favourite Violinists Are!! One is Only attracted to a Sound and Tone which Compels & Reveals the Personae of Artist in Real Life which has forever led me in my choices of 'Favourite Violinist' & in my case, a few of my absolutely one of Favourite 4 Violinists and Why?!
There is no doubt about my first Favourite heard in person Violinist & in our Family Living Room in the name of Toscha Seidel, Leopold Auer Classmate of my next Favourite Violinist, Jascha Heifetz, with whom I would later study never expecting such rare good fortune! And next would be a grand and loving Music plus The World Violinist, Fritz Kreisler, whom all in our Musician Family adored & with genuine Love of his uniquely Rhythmic Charm yet exemplary w/Viennese charmed magic & finally, 'other' to become Violin Mentor, Nathan Milstein, whom on hearing/seeing NM in Prokofiev's 1st Violin Concerto in D w/Fruhbeck de Burgos on London's RFH Podium, in a beyond scintillating be-deviled exquisite offering which even Heifetz never recorded out of, {I believe} profound respect for Nathan Milstein's rare 'Ownership' of both Prokofiev Violin Concerti yet specifically Number 1, with NM spinning his Web of Wizardry none would ever reach!!! Beyond the initial attraction to all my Four Violinists was/is their truly unique Sounds/Tone's on the Violin and use of vast ranges of emotion within their individual Tone Sphere's and individual stylistic Choices of Thousands of This's & That's in broad violin repertory with Heifetz, seeming to span the broadest Violin Concerto Repertoire in his over 70 year Reign as The World's Greatest Violinist, bar non & I think mutually assured + agreed by all of Mr. Heifetz's eminent violin colleagues not including Critic's and Violinist Historians. Even if not One Critic or other Violinist had played and Never said a Word about the name, Jascha Heifetz, I would have picked him out minus any preview/s about the Great Heifetz!! Upon a first hearing, it seemed humanly impossible for such perfected technique & as I grew up musically, even more astonishing the Heifetz Musical Overview on All Music he performed/recorded on an artistic level which never betrayed itself on Disc or Film or Up Front and Personal just 3 feet away! It must be pointed out that England's George Bernard Shaw wrote his 1st Review of Heifetz, the 16 year old Genius, in a form of Letter Review writing: "... and dear Mr. Heifetz, please make sure to practise One Note badly prior to retiring for sleep each night so as not to disturb The God's!" ~
Whom, I ask, has ever seen nor heard of such globally revered Music Critic, writing even remotely in range or similarly to that of fabled Brit, George Bernard Shaw in 'the Times' of London, or in even its rival New York Times' eminent Critic, late Harold Schonberg!?? For those too young to know about the Great NY Times Music Reviewer, Harold Schonberg, do Google his name to learn of his rarely questioned Reviews of Decades!!
My deep love of All 4 Violinists begin at aged 5 w/Toscha Seidel's Glorious Deeply enriched velvet warm lush Sound & Tone on his gorgeous Stradivarius Violin in his loving hands & heart which lodged their niche in my inner soundtrack and so deeply, I determined to have a Sound of such proportioned Beauty the rest of my 'Violin Life' which one can now claim, having mostly fulfilled my dream and Then Some for sure tbc!
The impact of Kreisler's rhythmic charm w/'inner' rhythmic Lilt & Verve, stayed inside also and must have fused together with my 'inner ear' of Sound & in specific repertoire vast emotions. The Heifetz Sound, as stated by Isaac Stern to All Musicians re 'Heifetz Sound was in Every Violinist Ear' & I'll go further by including all String Cousins: Viola/Violoncello & Double Basso, heard in inner ears the 'Heifetz Effect' of Sound as witnessed in nearly All Hollywood Studio Orchestras Screen Musicals in the 50s/60s & 70s when one listens closely to a full orchestra string section Sound with similar to Heifetzian Sound!! But for
myself it's deeper for the specific Violin Work being learned & performed which greatly influenced my own choice of varied particular Sounds in either the Violin Concerti of Sibelius/Bach/ Brahms/Mendelssohn or Beethoven plus later in Shostakovich & differing in Prokofiev plus a new idea re his Sonata No.1 in F minor for Violin/Piano, w/darker in moods & into Light, Yet ... And then came Nathan Milstein in All Unaccompanied Bach Sonatas & Partitas with rare smoothness in Chordal Bowing &
NM chording even on All Four Strings simultaneously!! The unique Milstein Sound revealed The rare personae of person, Nathan Milstein, or just 'Natan' termed so by his Family! The
Sound of each of my chosen 4 Favourite for-many-reasons Violinists is Paramount to a Why I was early on attracted to each and every artist!!
Too lengthy & a fault of mine, let us say every Replier here has inner reasons for selecting his or her Favourite Violinist/s, and this is healthy because no one is arguing with another & even
if this was an In Person Forum, it would be welcomed in the Spirit of democratic exchanges of differing opinions yet with respect of we 'Agree to Disagree' and go have a Cup of Tea Afterward!!!!
A Word: Must mention Fav Contemporary: Janine Jansen in Britten's Violin Concerto which Is Stellar! Also Mutter in LvB VC & Kreutzer P/V Sonata #9!!
Thank you Laurie Niles, for such an enlightening Subject for All of us to Discuss and Share!
~ ~ ~ Elisabeth Matesky/ Chicago ~ ~ ~
Fwd ~ dmg {#19}
Elisabeth - the George Bernard Shaw quotation and the tea suggestion were both very welcome. Thank you!
@Richard Palraudeau ~ {#21}
Dear Richard P. ~ Delighted by your Welcome of both my final comments, if I do go ahead with travel plans to London, might we meet for 'Violinists Tea' at Fortnum & Mason or near Green Park's Berkeley Square!!? Still unsure of my Travel Dates but aiming for mid Summer, do Reply here if London based or also
in the US near Chicago!! *I often think of Ginette Neveu, as well ...
~ ~ ~ Elisabeth Matesky ~ ~ ~
Fwd ~ Try Member Profile for my Bus Email ~ 23. 4. 2023
I would like to say vioti or paganini,but I never heard them play.
Heifetz was Kreisler's favourite. However, Heifetz's favourite ...
Oh so many! My childhood idols were Gil Shaham and Isaac Stern, and I also loved listening to Milstein (who was my father's favourite), Oistrakh, and Henryk Szeryng. Currently I gravitate towards Hillary Hahn, Janine Jansen, Andrew Manze, Rachel Podger, Shaun Lee Chen, Rachel Barton Pine, and non-classical violinistist Christian Howes, Robb Flax, and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. There are so many soundscapes and variety of styles now.
I don't have a favorite individual musician, rather a favorite type of musician -- the amateur's who play for their community orchestras often paying for the privilege of hiring a conductor, renting the rehearsal and concert halls, showing up, practicing, all for the pure joy of playing music with and for others.
The professionals command my respect for their devotion and often their working with amateurs.
I can hear the professionals at just about any time since they record their performances and are well paid.
There are so many. But when all is said and done, I keep coming back to Zino Francescatti. And (as I have said elsewhere), I have always wondered if there is an actual "connection" between Francescatti and Paganini.
Consider this:
1. To my ear, nobody else has ever sounded like Francescatti.
2. His major teachers were his parents, especially his father, who was a pupil of Camillo Sivori...
3. Who was a pupil of Paganini.
Is it possible that when we hear Francescatti, we are hearing some qualities in Paganini's actual playing?
If not, Francescatti is still my all-time favorite.
Hilary Hahn and Rachel Podger among contemporaries, and Jascha Heifetz in the historical list.
@John Rokos {#28} ~ As from, Elisabeth Matesky, original 1 of 7 Jascha Heifetz artist pupils: JH Violin Master Class USC ~ also Film w/Mr. Heifetz https://youtu.be/jixTCyZwPIO {Jascha Heifetz Violin Master Class - Khachaturian, JH-7, Elisabeth Matesky (Rus vers. Library of Master Performers)} ~ Re 'Heifetz Favourite Violinist?'
Having both studied and known Jascha Heifetz, following my JH VMC studies with him in Los Angeles, yet keeping in close contact over the remaining chapters in his life, visiting Mr. 'H' in Malibu at JH fabled Malibu Beach House Parties, & honoured sometimes as a guest to 'catch up', I can genuinely say Mr. Heifetz never told any of we 7 or others Just Whom it was he favoured as his own Favourite Violinist, but I think it safe to hazard a Guess, {& certainly meeting Heifetz, a first time, on the occasion of the passing of his adored cherished friend, Fritz Kreisler, whom Mr. Heifetz near worshipped as a trusted Greatest Violinist & Musician Colleague, for my formal audition for Jascha Heifetz}, in Clark House on the USC Campus, initially shaking hands & myself stunned to shake The Hand of Heifetz, yet once the main door closed & chatting, I spotted a tear rolling down his famous face under his red right eye talking of Fritz Kreisler's passing and genuinely upset, then offering Heifetz my sincere condolences on the passing of his revered Friend, with Mr. Heifetz's sudden kind & warm human response telling me of his great sadness in losing Mr. Kreisler ~ It is this actual 'first'
warm human exchange which suggests to me if now asked whom he, Heifetz, would choose as his Favourite Violinist, JH might well answer, "Fritz Kreisler" and could follow FK up with another fellow violinist, whom JH told me was 'my friend' in the name of Nathan Milstein, & whom I knew most well for 24 full Years after playing Bach's Chaconne to NM at his new moved to London Chester Square home in his Drawing Room/ cum Studio, becoming Milstein's 1st private artist pupil, Quote NM: "My private Guinea Pig Heifetz pupil whom I can now actually experiment with violinistically", when NM invited me to private study advanced Bach bowing with him for over 3 & 1/2 years, who also so revered Heifetz, NM told me to 'put the Sibelius Violin Concerto away' on a 'd minor Day' and in taking many violin works in d minor, included the Sibelius, yet NM told me after saying put it away ~ "I do not play or teach the Sibelius Violin Concerto; it belongs to Heifetz! Now play something else in d minor, dear Elisabeth!" Adding all of this up, also knowing Mr. Heifetz Never recorded the Prokofiev 1st Violin Concerto, yet the Prokofiev Second VC., I think Mr. Heifetz had an immense respect for Milstein, the Artist and Person including Milstein's rare musicianship, so it would not surprise me if Mr. Heifetz would offer Fritz Kreisler, First and Nathan Milstein, secondly as his Favourite 2 Violinists, and possibly give his JH 'Nod' to his revered teacher, Professor Leopold Auer!!!?
In venturing to answer a hypothetical Question posed by you, yourself, *Mr. Rokos, I've revealed some personal-professional 'This's' of Jascha Heifetz and Nathan Milstein, both of whom knew each other well from the Auer Class and as Stellar Violin Colleagues!! I don't think JH would include some we might think, due a few hints from Mr. Heifetz, over 25 years knowing him and myself, as a more matured musician, living in London, amongst fabled musicians company, nearly 24/7, but David Oistrakh might not be on the Jascha Heifetz "List", given Mr. 'H's' once off the cuff comment re David Oistrakhh's Sound and not to be misinterpreted as personally aimed at Oistrakh. I feel this needs 100% clarity to ensure none here take it as a personal jab at the wonderful person-hood of David Oisttrakh, aka, 'King David' & whom I'm sure many revere as long as we and ^They live and ^Lived ...
In giving your Question 'a Go', it is my hope this thought out hypothetical Answer re Heifetz's favourite violinist or violinists is not thought a Quote of Jascha Heifetz, for as initially stated, I am educationally guessing having both studied and known Mr. Heifetz, quite well for 25 years and due my familiarity have hazarded a Guess!! Thank you for your Question which almost no one here nor any of my other 6 Original Jascha Heifetz Violin Master Class classmates would know For Sure, and I honour-include Erick Friedman; Carol Sindell; Adam Han Gorski; Robert Witte; Claire Hodgkins & Varoujan Kodjian, all of whom Loved and revered our Mentor, Jascha Heifetz, plus
others including Pierre Amoyal; Eugene Fodor and Glenn Dicterow ... {I list those whom I know and knew quite well in the. Case of those tender morte Souls now in Violin Heaven w/Mr. Heifetz, a tender person and kind human being who always helped the least in life . . .
~ With warm musical greetings from Chicago ~
~ ~ ~ ~ Elisabeth Matesky ~ ~ ~ ~
Fwd ~ dmg {#28} 25. 4. 2023
Elizabeth: What remarkable and touching memories and tributes not only to Mr. Heifetz but to so many others in the history of violins and violinists. Thank you for sharing on your posts.
~ @Sander Marcus {#30}
Dear Sander Marcus, Thank you sincerely for your most kind and warm thoughts upon having read my Post {#28} just above from V.com Member, John Rokos' Question posed about 'Heifetz ??"
I took a chance in trying to hazard a Guess which having been so blessed knowing and studying with Jascha Heifetz and later in London, with Nathan Milstein, visiting-conversing with both Icon's of The Violin, one recalled 'hints' via my own memories
whilst studying & meeting both, focusing on Mr. Heifetz, and especially regarding our first meeting, which was a poignant time for Mr. 'H', which Heifetz allowed me to see as being a very young teen with her violin ... I will post this Discussion on FB EAM https://www.facebook.com/elisabeth.anne.775?fref=nf - to share with other violinist colleagues & musicians which number many & all of whom revere the late GOAT Violinists being honoured here!! Your kindness to me won't be forgotten and taken as a Green Light for me to continue writing my Book
which is delayed yet needing encouragement to do the Hard Task of writing it minus any "Kiss 'n Tell" 'tid-bit's' which some have past done. Artistry beckons Truths & from those of whom have known Greatest Artists Up Close both personally, socially and professionally!!
~ Thank You, again, dear Sander Marcus ~
~ ~ ~ ~ Elisabeth Matesky ~ ~ ~ ~
25th of April, 2 0 2 3 / Chicago
Fwd ~ dmg {#30}
I have two favorite contemporary violinists, but for entirely different reasons. For performance it is Gil Shaham. Not only does his sound project voluminously, the colors he produces are amazing as well. If that were not enough, the manner in which he infectiously shares his joy of music with others on stage is palpable!
From a pedagogical perspective I have the utmost of respect for Robert Lipsett and, even though my interaction was limited to one master class with him, his concise observation changed my trajectory as a student for the better.
Robert was substituting for Endre Granat (even though I am a violist this was the only master class available at CSUN at the time). Anyone that knew me in the mid-70s would testify that, more often than not, they would have to take Dramamine to watch me play-and let me know about that in no uncertain terms!
After finishing the movement of the Bach Suite at the class the first thing Robert said to me was, "You really have to stop moving around so much when you play!" For me that was the proverbial line in the sand and, being so full of myself at the moment, I challenged him by replying, "Give me one good reason I should stop it and I will!" The room turned deathly silent, as that remark alone should have been sufficient to get me kicked out of the class immediately. In a very calm voice Robert answered, "When you choose to do that you significantly compromise the angle of bow to string, and that alters your sound." He might as well have wired my jaw shut, and justifiably so!!
In that brief encounter I learned a valuable lesson on many levels, but particularly in teaching style. With an economy of words one can effect significant progress. It was no wonder to me that, in the years following my graduation, I read about the level to which Robert Lipsett rose to as a master teacher! He exhibited grace to me when it was not warranted, and that is something I have embraced as I continue to work with the next generation(s) of musicians and music lovers.
I think Kreisler, Thibaud, Ysaye, Heifetz, Sarasate and quite a number of others played the romantic literature in a way unrivaled.
Their interpretations of Baroque music are worthy but not really that interesting. The young moderns who emulate that style of Baroque performance (frequently even more virtuosically) are boring. But there are too many to name modern violinists who play it very well.
Response to {#31} re Lipsette Language/Ideas from EM {#33} 26. 4. 2023
All speaking only about 'Angle's of' is violinistically uninformed as it relates to Bowing of Greatest Performing Violin Masters in near Violin Playing History. Studying w/both Iconic Violinists, Jascha Heifetz and Nathan Milstein, and not in a 1 day Violin Master Class, but over a long period of time even filmed re Mr. Heifetz & we original 7 JH Violin Master Class artist pupil's, of, btw, 6 hours per day twice weekly {on Film, YT} and Chamber Music w/Heifetz, Primrose and Gregor Piatigorsky, on Friday's, for over 4 hours each week, never revealed any of the Three Fabled Artists of Violin, Viola or Violoncello speaking to any of us about 'Angle's' of any Bow arm: or trajectory of Bowing with the word, 'Angle' oft used or any of public School terms in all String Teaching. Granted, All Three Icon's of the Three String Instruments were acknowledged by a term now referred to as 'GOAT' {Greatest of All Time} yet each of 3 conveyed technical advice & only via following the specific musical style which led to vast individual improvement's due inspired demonstrated to us by our renowned String Instrument Mentor's. Full Stop!
One Issue: "Straight Bow" ~ This is an old view which has No relevance to smooth bowing & certainly as it pertains to the execution of Unaccompanied Bach Suites/Sonatas & Partitas for Violin/Violoncello and or Viola!! Nathan Milstein, my later private violin mentor, Master of The Bow, actually 're-did' my bowing {Franco-Belgian style} with a rounded bow approach which one will not describe here due to rare and only imparted to myself NM's bowing technique and in Detail over a period of 3 & 1/2 Years which 'Liberated' one's ability to then transfer my inner mind imagined musical interpretation of all concert violin repertoire I carried On Tour including all other string bowings in Chamber Music & much Orchestral vast repertoire. "It" - being what is termed, 'a straight bow' and in words known to my very few GOAT artists, EM's "straight bow disease' - is crippling to even some violinists now concertising and wondering "How could Milstein play like G-d at aged 82/3??" A Question asked of me by a famed Concert Artist, name with-held due privacy. Further, much training of the artist was solely Carl Flesch, with a gestalt approach of ^'rigidity thinking' w/little room for almost anything else which in and of itself, stifles musical freedom in, i.e., French Violin, Viola & 'Cello Impressionistic Music of Debussy/ Ravel/ Franck/ Faure/ even Berlioz & Lili Boulanger rare works ~ Not here to teach, it needs to be said that in the opinions of GOAT Violinist's= both JH and NM, 'straight bow' and 'angle's' did not have any place nor were ever mentioned and in/from my personal experience never even thought of in helping a sincere violin pupil improve in bowing technique and which, btw, All Violin and String Cousins Technique is based on The Bow which if "In Sync" with natural body physique = movement, pulling the left hand successfully on the 'Board'! The Replier mentioning this issue may have been instinctively trying|genuinely following thru too much yet was stopped by one still 'stuck' in a never-was-natural solution and confusing language re "Angle's" which IMO, destroys natural human movement as long as one standing up and playing a romantic style violin work doesn't sway so much as to fall over which nearly happened in our Jascha Heifetz Violin Master Class one Tues when Mr. 'H'-trying to get the attention of a playing Brahms classmate, w/ no response, finally took his heavy Briefcase setting the Huge Briefcase right atop my classmate's Foot, who then suddenly Stopped, muttering words none of we other 6 knew in a foreign tongue to Heifetz, who replied, 'Now you won't over Sway!!' All be advised, Mr. Heifetz had a British Wit sense of humour! The classmate stopped his outside physical emotion switching to an 'inner' dispatched on the fiddle successful heartfelt of music rendering which greatly aided his artistry from that point and onward ~
Please note I'm deliberately avoiding technical specifics here due this forum not being a Master Class!
A Word: I may not Post this due hesitation of some unknowing of what I speak and not due their talent or love of violin playing yet to early goodwill teaching minus unknown artistry with plus bowing.
~ ~ ~ ~ Elisabeth Matesky ~ ~ ~ ~
Fwd ~ dmg {#33} taking a risk & including for those interested
REDO 'lite' to Replier's {#31} & {#32} re language & Ysaye did you ever Hear Live?? EM {#34}
It seems a good idea to 'lite' mention neither of my Icon Violin Mentor's, Jascha Heifetz and his IMO, only Peer, Nathan Milstein, ever and over a Five Years Up Close and Personal teaching situation/s, both in our Original Jascha Heifetz Violin Master Class held twice weekly for 6 hrs daily with Chamber Music every Friday {w/Heifetz, Primrose, & Piatigorsky} plus Private Only Advanced Bowing Study with Nathan Milstein in London at his Chester Square home 3 & 1/2 years, + invited honoured Help-Assistant to Milstein in Zurich, starting Summer 1970-72 (& 'On Standby' during All 1970s for Nathan Milstein International Violin Master Course/s ^due then residing in US, the *Language of Violinistic terms never used even once, were 'Angle or Angle's', which had/have no relevance to the Bowing Mastery of JH or Milstein, especially, w/a Rounded Approach and a touch Ysaye {Franco-Belgian} Approach as my own from Principal Teacher|Father, Ralph Matesky until my studies w/Heifetz, firstly.)
The subject of Favourite Violinists specified to Older and to Contemporry Violinists may not have, in Mind, entered Editor, Laurie Niles' listing of Contemporary, due no or little recordings of the GOAT Franco-Belgium Violinist, Eugen Ysaye, not being available due No EY Recordings yet if any, indistinguishable re Ysaye's actual In Concert Hall or before fine Microphone Disc's Sound very early on disc or even on wax?? In our Five Yr LinkedIn In Depth Discussion of "Top 10 GOAT Violinists", our Founder, Thames Valley University Lecturer of London- Distinguished, laid out specific guidelines which excluded All Great Violinists of The Past whom none had heard nor had access to hear as just mentioned. Thusly, Ysaye and Thibaud, were omitted due not being able to hear their performances on any disc sound worthy ~ No one complained for we were all able to reach further back to Kreisler, Heifetz and All of Auer pupils if recordings were available!! If following this perfectly Fair Rule, it is my understanding Ysaye & Thibaud would not 'qualify' as completely valid if Replier #32, just above writes both artists are favoured yet he has all rights to express his favoured violinists opinion! Re myself, I would be utterly thrilled to hear Eugen Ysaye performing his own Compositions for Solo Violin, and would welcome ideas as expressed by a profound Musician, Violinist-Composer, heralded throughout the Violin World and who became a close friend of my Private Mentor, then young Nathan Milstein!! Some of NM Story will go in my Book now In Process ~
Thanking Replier's both, Lewis Rosove, and Corwin Slack, it is truly unfortunate to not be able to hear both Great Violinists you mentioned myself, for Mr. Milstein referred to Ysaye {as did my father} & often with discerned reverence for Ysaye ~
~ Sending warm violin greetings to you both ~
~ ~ ~ Elisabeth Matesky/ Chicago ~ ~ ~
Fwd dmg ~ 26th of April, 2 0 2 3
I don’t have a favorite, although I can name some artists who come to mind right away. Historical: Oistrakh, Grumiaux, Stern. Contemporary: Hadelich, Hahn, Bell, Ehnes.
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April 22, 2023 at 11:38 PM · I have a long list of favorite contemporary violinists but there is a unique charm in the old crackly recordings, the phrasing and poetic feeling of violinists like Jacques Thibaud.