Stanislaw Barcewicz and Paul Viardot

March 25, 2005 at 02:35 AM · Just a real super-quick search on google gave me a couple things... Check out this site: http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Testament/SBT21324

for a recording of these violinists and others during the 19th century. Also, there was a description of a site of these guys's biographies that I got a 404 error on (bummer!). It said:

... BIOGRAPHIES. Stanislaw Barcewicz (1858-1929) Born Warsaw. ... Paul Viardot

(1857-1941) Born near Rozay-en-Brie into illustrious musical family. ...

www.testament.uk.com/Notes/violinistsnote.html

Hope that's a start. Good luck! =)

March 25, 2005 at 05:11 AM · The recording Sarah mentions above is a double CD set, "The Great Violinists: Recordings from 1900 - 1913." It is full of wonders. You can hear Barcewicz playing Wieniawski's Kujawiak Mazurka in A minor, Op. 3; the Canzonetta from the Tchaikovsky concerto; and Paderewski's Melodie, Op. 15 No. 2. All are with piano and were recorded in 1905. Barcewicz actually played the Tchaikovsky concerto under the composer's direction, about which the composer said (in a letter to his brother Modest), "Barcewicz played my conceto with extraordinary brilliance," (which is more than he ever said about Heifetz).

NOTE: the previous comment was a joke, an attempt to interject an impossible event (i.e, that Tchaikovsky could comment upon the violinistic ability of someone who was not born until the after composer died) into an otherwise sincere and informative commentary responding to the originator of this thread. Questions should be resolved by a Google search, or one can go to dictionary.com for definitions of "humor." My profoundest apologies to those so enamored of Mr. Heifetz's playing that they might find offence in this innocuous comment, particularly those whose arguements on the relative merits of Heifetz versus Oistrakh, etc., are reminiscent of nothing as much as a discussion I overheard between Larry Leib and Mark Goodman when I was in 2nd grade: Who is stronger, Superman or Mighty Mouse. (The answer is Kogan, who was not affected by Kryptonite!)

Viardot can be heard in a 1900 recording of Wieniaswki's Obertass Mazurka in G, Op. 19 No. 1. Viardot claimed his father was Turgenev! (He had a reputation for being somewhat unstable...)

All in all, these recordings are not only amazing historical documents, but contain many, many amazing examples of the musicianship that existed in the twilight of the 19th century. How wonderful it would be if every music conservatory maintained copies of these recordings for their violin students. I hope you can all get to hear these someday. By the way, I recently read the biography of the Alma Rose, the daughter of Arnold Rose (one of the violinists featured in the above set), who perished in the Holocaust. It helped me to humanize these figures from the past, to see how they dealt with joy and success and devastating grief. They were no different from us, and had as much to say musically as the violinists of today.

March 25, 2005 at 06:16 AM · Thanks for responding. I'm going to go buy this CD! I checked on Google, and it brought me to amazon.com. I love to learn about old violinists! When i get it, i'll post here to tell you how i like it! Thanks again!

April 7, 2005 at 09:25 AM · Paul Viardot is indeed the son of Pauline Viardot, noted operatic soprano of the late 19th century. It is interesting that you say he claimed to be the son of Ivan Turgenev, for indeed, one of the most famous love triangles of the 19th century was that of Pauline Viardot, her husband Louis, and Ivan Turgenev, about whose intentions toward Madame Viardot historians have argued about till they are blue in the face. Turgenev MOVED with the family, got neighboring apartments, and Pauline was hated by his countrymen for, in their "People Magazine" mentality of the day, taking him away from them. I am quite familiar with the trio's notariety as my singing partner and I did a considerable amount of research for our recently released CD, "Under Her Spell: The Viardot Effect" which was reviewed in The Journal of Singing Nov/Dec 2004, and in the Mu Phi Triangle Winter/Spring 2004/2005. Thank you for interesting me in the works of Paul. I think we may have our eyes open for a violinist who can tackle the Faure Sonata No. 1 in A for a concert with us in the future! That would be a fun collaboration.