VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY.
In these latter days the number of good violinists seems to have
increased greatly. A season seldom passes without witnessing the début
of some half-dozen aspirants for public approbation, but the great
majority of them settle down into some special field of labour, and do
not acquire world-wide fame as virtuosi.
Virtuosity to-day depends very largely on the art of advertising. In the
old days of Viotti and Spohr, the violinist would remain in a city for
months, make acquaintances, and gradually acquire a reputation which
would justify his giving some concerts. A tour lasting from three to
six years would cover a comparatively small amount of territory.
To-day the concert agent searches among the new lights for one or two
who seem, in his judgment, likely to please the audiences to whom he
caters, and who will justify the curiosity roused by the wholesale
advertising done in their behalf.
The violinist is rushed from one place to another with mechanical
precision, and flits from Maine to California and from Canada to the
Gulf in a few short weeks. There are more soloists, more concerts, more
musical organisations than ever before.
It does not follow by any means that the travelling virtuoso is one of
the _greatest_ violinists of his time. There are, in every city of
Europe and in many cities of America, violinists who equal or even excel
many of those who are exploited as virtuosi. The _great_ violinists are
not to be found every day. In the past twenty years, perhaps, not more
than two can be recalled who have visited the United States as mature,
great artists,--Wilhelmj and Ysaye. Many violinists of excellent ability
have been heard, and to some of them some day the adjective _great_ may
be applied. The fact that they have devoted their energies to concert
work, and have been favourably received by the most important musical
organisations, makes them celebrated, but the word _great_ can apply but
to few.
Adolf Brodsky, who came to America in 1892, and who is a violinist of
much ability, with a beautiful tone, facile and brilliant technique, but
somewhat lacking in elegance and polish, did not come to tour the
country as a virtuoso. He was engaged by Mr. Walter Damrosch as
concert-master for the New York orchestra, but during his stay in this
country he appeared in many of the most important concerts, and was
considered one of the best violinists who had ever come to live in
America.
Brodsky was born in 1851 at Taganrog, in Southern Russia, and was one of
those who found his profession at the age of four, when he bought a
violin at a fair, and began to pick out Russian folk-tunes.
For four years he was taught music at home, and made good progress. Then
a wealthy gentleman was attracted by his talent, hearing him play at a
concert at Odessa, and provided the funds necessary for him to go to
Vienna and study under Hellmesberger. He became second violin in the
celebrated Hellmesberger Quartet, and thus gained a great reputation as
a quartet player.
After travelling all over Europe for four years, he was appointed second
professor of the violin at the Conservatory of Moscow, where he remained
another four years. Then followed more study and more travel until,
when Schradieck accepted the position of violin teacher at the
Cincinnati conservatory, Brodsky was appointed to fill his place at
Leipzig. In 1892 he was called to New York, but, owing to troubles which
arose in the musical profession, he returned to Europe the following
year, and, after a short sojourn in Berlin, received the appointment of
director of the Royal College of Music at Manchester, England, where he
succeeded Sir Charles Hallé.
Emil Sauret is well known in America, for he visited the United States
in 1872-73, and made a tour which was so successful, that it was
repeated in 1874, when he travelled with Ilma di Murska, the great
singer, and his wife, Teresa Careño, the pianist.
[Illustration: EMIL SAURET]
Sauret began his public career at the age of eight. He was born at
Dun-le-Roi, in the department of Cher, in France, in 1852, and at the
age of six entered the conservatory at Strasburg, after some
preliminary instruction at home. In two years he began his travels, and
for several years he divided his time between study and travel.
As a boy he was taken up by De Bériot, who was much interested in his
welfare. He studied under Vieuxtemps in Paris, and in 1872 was one of
the artists engaged for the tour organised by the President of the
French Republic for the relief of the sufferers by the Franco-German
war.
In 1879 ne was appointed teacher at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, a
post which he relinquished on being offered the position made vacant in
the Royal Academy of Music, London, by the death of Sainton.
M. Sauret is pronounced conservative and conscientious to the last
degree in handling the classics, and, although he has great
individuality, passion, and fire, he would consider it a sacrilege to
obtrude his own personality upon the listener. He is distinguished for
elegance rather than perfection of technique. He may be considered a
representative of the extreme French school.
In temperament he is quick and somewhat impatient. He expects much of
his pupils, and is the very opposite of the painstaking, phlegmatic
Wilhelmj.
In 1896 M. Sauret again visited the United States, when it was admitted
by those who had heard him twenty years before that he had grown to a
consummate and astounding virtuoso. His tone was firm, pure, and
beautiful, though not large. Marsick and Ondricek had preceded him by a
few weeks, but Sauret did not suffer by comparison.
One of the most remarkable violinists of the present day is César
Thomson, who was born at Liège in 1857. He entered the conservatory of
his native place, after receiving some instruction from his father, and
had completed the regular course by the time he was twelve years of
age, after which he became a pupil of Leonard.
At the age of eighteen he made a concert tour through Italy, and while
there became a member of the private orchestra of the Baron de Derwies.
In 1879 he became a member of the Bilse Orchestra, and in 1882, having
won distinction at the musical festival at Brussels, he was appointed
professor of the violin in the Liège conservatory.
Most of his travelling has been done since that time, and he has
acquired an immense reputation in Europe. In Leipzig, at a Gewandhaus
concert in 1891, he made a phenomenal success, and in 1898 at Brussels
he received five enthusiastic recalls from a cold and critical audience,
for his magnificent performance of the Brahms concerto.
M. Thomson's command of all the technical resources of the violin is so
great that he can play the most terrific passages without sacrificing
his tone or clearness of phrasing, and his octave playing almost equals
that of Paganini himself. Yet he is lacking in personal magnetism, and
is a player for the musically cultivated rather than for the multitude,
though his technique fills the listener with wonder. He visited the
United States in 1896, and was, like Marsick, compared with Ysaye, who
at that time swept everything before him and carried the country by
storm.
In 1897 César Thomson left Liège, owing, it is said, to disagreements at
the Conservatoire, and made his home at Brussels.
The greatest of Belgian violinists of to-day is Eugene Ysaye, who
possesses that magnetism which charms alike the musician and the
amateur, because of his perfect musical expression. He possesses the
inexplicable and inexpressible something which takes cold judgment off
its feet and leads criticism captive.
Ysaye was born at Liège in 1858, and, after studying at the
conservatories of his native town under his father and at Brussels,
entered that of Paris, where he completed the course in 1881, and
immediately afterward started on a series of concert tours. Ysaye's
eminence as a violinist has been gained by hard work. He did not burst
meteor-like upon the world, but he earned his position in the violin
firmament by ten years of concert touring, during which time he passed
successively through the stages of extreme sentimentality until he
reached the "sea" of real sentiment.
It was in 1873 that Ysaye, after preparation given chiefly by his
father, made his way to Brussels and sought out Wieniawski, then
professor at the Conservatoire. Wieniawski was teaching, when a note was
brought to him marked "private and important." The servant was told to
show the bearer in, and Ysaye, then about fifteen years of age, timidly
entered the room carrying his violin. After a little preliminary
conversation which allowed the youth to tell his history, Wieniawski
asked him what he would play, and in reply he placed on the piano desk a
concerto of Vieuxtemps. The result of his performance was that he at
once became a pupil of Wieniawski, with whom he remained some three
years, during the period in which Vieuxtemps was recovering from his
paralytic shock. In 1876 Vieuxtemps heard him at Antwerp, and through
his influence the Belgian government was induced to grant Ysaye a
stipend in order to allow him to pursue his studies at Paris. There he
was the pupil of Massart, who had also been the teacher of Wieniawski,
Ysaye's master at Brussels. Vieuxtemps is said to have expressed the
desire, while in Algiers during his latter years, to have Ysaye stay
with him to play his compositions, but Ysaye was at that time in St.
Petersburg. When Vieuxtemps died and his remains were brought to
Verviers, his birthplace, Ysaye carried in the procession the violin and
bow of the virtuoso on a black velvet cushion fringed with silver.
When Ysaye first appeared in America he was a mature artist, the
recognised leader of the Belgian school of violinists, the first
professor of violin at the Brussels Conservatoire, and the possessor of
many decorations and honours bestowed upon him by various royalties.
Before he had been in America a month he was acknowledged to be the
greatest violinist who had visited this country for many years.
A man of large and powerful physique, he plays with a bold and manly
vigour, and yet with exquisite delicacy. He is a master of phrasing and
of all beauties of detail, has a wonderfully perfect technique, but that
quality which places him at the head of all rivals is his musical
feeling, his temperament. He has been compared to Rubinstein and to
Paderewski. He inspires his hearers, or, as it was once expressed, very
neatly, "he creeps up under your vest." He disarms criticism, and he
seems to be more completely part of his violin and his violin of him
than has been the case with any other player who has visited these
shores for some years. He has given the greatest performance of the
celebrated Bach chaconne ever heard in America. He has been declared to
be not inferior to Joachim in his performance of this work, though he
has not so broad a tone as the latter, nor as Wieniawski. He combines
Sarasate's tenderness of tone and showy technique with more manliness
and sincerity than Sarasate gives.
The student, perhaps, can learn more from César Thomson than from Ysaye,
but he will receive from the latter the greater inspiration.
Ysaye is noted, too, for sincerity of purpose and seriousness such as
few of the virtuosi have possessed. He is free from all traits of
charlatanism and trickery. Once, when in California, he was asked for an
autograph copy of a few measures of his original cadenza to the
Beethoven concerto (an embellishment which all violinists seem obliged
to compose), but he declared that he did not like the idea of an
original cadenza to Beethoven's work, that it was much better to omit
it, as it formed no part of the concerto. "In original cadenzas by
virtuosi," he said, "we find too much violin and too little music," for
which confession from such an artist the world may be truly grateful.
When Ysaye came to America in 1894 he was prepared with a repertoire
consisting of ninety-one pieces. Of these, fourteen were concertos,
seventeen sonatas, and eleven were compositions of his own.
He made a second tour in America in 1898, when he confirmed the
opinions already formed as to his wonderful qualities.
In March, 1899, he went to Berlin, which city he had not visited for
several years, and appeared as soloist of the tenth Nikisch Philharmonic
concert, when he played the E major concerto by Bach, and scored an
overwhelming success. At the end of the concert he was recalled some
fifteen times, and had completely exploded the idea so firmly held in
Berlin, that the Belgians cannot play the classics.
Of late years M. Ysaye has made his mark as a conductor, and has given a
series of orchestral concerts in Brussels. He organised and managed this
enterprise entirely by himself, without any guarantee fund, and the
concerts were so successful, financially as well as artistically, that
at the end of the season it was found that they had paid all expenses,
and this, as all who know anything about the financial side of
orchestral concerts, is a most remarkable showing.
Few, if any, artists have been made the recipients of more ridiculous
adulation from women Paderewski perhaps being the only exception, and at
the conclusion of his concerts scenes have been witnessed which are
simply nauseating. This fashion is not confined, by any means, to the
United States, for there are anecdotes from all countries illustrative
of the manner in which members of the fair sex vie with each other in
the effort to do the silliest things.
Ysaye has a home near the Palais de Justice in Brussels. He is married
to the daughter of a Belgian army officer, and has several children. He
is a man of much modesty, and is devoted to his family. As a violinist
he may be considered to rank next to Joachim.
Carl Halir, who visited America in 1896, was born in 1859 at Hohenelbe
in Bohemia, and was first taught by his father. He entered the
conservatory at Prague at the age of eight, and remained there until he
was fourteen, studying under Bennewitz, after which he went to Berlin
and became a pupil of Joachim.
For some time he was a member of the Bilse orchestra, and then went to
Königsberg as concert-master, after which he held a similar position for
three years at Mannheim, and then at Weimar, where he married the
well-known singer, Theresa Zerbst.
On his first appearance, at the Bach festival at Eisenath, he played
with Joachim the Bach double concerto, and was very successful. He has
made concert tours throughout the greater part of Europe, and while in
America he was recognised as a broad artist. He is no virtuoso in the
ordinary sense of the word, but a classical, non-sensational,
well-educated musician, whose playing was not dazzling or magnetic, but
delighted by its intellectuality. He has an even and sympathetic tone,
and inspires the greatest respect as an artist and as a man, and, while
other players may make greater popular successes, Halir stands on a high
artistic plane which few can reach.
Franz Ondricek, who visited the United States also in 1896, was born at
Prague in 1859, the same year as Halir, but is an artist of an entirely
different stamp. In his early youth he was a member of a dance music
band, and his father taught him to play the violin. It was not until he
was fourteen years of age that he was able to enter the conservatory of
his native town. Three years later he was sent, through the generosity
of a wealthy merchant, to Paris, where he became a pupil of Massart. He
shared with Achille Rivarde the honour of the first prize at the
Conservatoire, since which time he has been a wandering star, and has
never sought any permanent engagement. His playing is marked by
individuality and dash, but he does not show to the best advantage in
the interpretation of the classics.
Charles Martin Loeffler, who shares the first desk of the first violins
in the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Mr. Kneisel, is a musician of the
highest ability.
He was born in Muhlhausen, Alsace, in 1861. He enjoyed the advantages of
instruction under Joachim, in Berlin, after which he continued his
studies in Paris, with Massart and Leonard, studying composition with
Guiraud. While in Paris he was a member of Pasdeloup's celebrated
orchestra, and was afterward appointed first violin and soloist in the
private orchestra of Baron Derwies, at Nice, of which orchestra César
Thomson was also a member.
In 1880 Mr. Loeffler crossed the Atlantic, and took up his residence in
New York, but the following year he was engaged as second concert-master
and soloist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position which he has
held ever since, and in which he has had opportunity to display his
exceptional talents.
As a violinist he plays with largeness of style, boldness of contrast,
and exquisite grace. He has a technique equalled by few, and his
performances have been confined to music of the highest class. Mr.
Loeffler has never made a tour of the country as a virtuoso, but as
soloist of the orchestra he has been heard under the best conditions in
most of the large cities of the United States, and has shown himself to
be a virtuoso in the best sense of the word.
As a composer Mr. Loeffler is distinctly original and imaginative. His
works are both poetical and musical, and they display high thought and
exceptional knowledge. His compositions include a sextet, a quintet, and
an octet, also a suite for violin and orchestra, "Les Veillées de
l'Ukraine;" a concerto for violoncello, which has been played by Mr.
Alwyn Schroeder; a divertimento for violin and orchestra, and a
symphonic poem, "La Mort de Tintagiles." Besides these large works he
has written a number of songs, of which five are with viola obligato.
These works have been performed by the Kneisel Quartet and the Symphony
Orchestra, the solo parts of the suite and divertimento by the composer
himself, and they have gained for him a reputation as a gifted and
scholarly tone artist.
One of the most promising young violinists of the century was a native
of Brazil, Maurice Dengremont, who was born in Rio Janeiro, in 1867. He
was the son of a French musician who had settled in Brazil, and who gave
him his first lessons to such good effect that, when only eight years of
age, he gave a concert, and the Brazilian orchestra was so delighted
with his playing that its members presented him with a medal, to which
the emperor added an imperial crown, as a recognition of his talent.
He now became a pupil of Leonard, and after three years' study he
appeared in many concerts, travelling throughout Europe and England, and
being received with enthusiasm. About 1880 he visited America, but his
career ended shortly after, as he fell a victim to dissipation.
Dengremont was compared with Sarasate and Wilhelmj, but all that could
be said about him was that he might have developed into a player of
their rank. As it was, he disappointed his admirers, and died while
still quite young.
Of the many violinists who have made their home in the United States
there are few whose accomplishments better entitle them to a position
among celebrated violinists than Mr. Franz Kneisel.
Mr. Kneisel was called to Boston to fill the position of concert-master
of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1885, and has held that place for
fourteen years, during which time he has done much toward the
cultivation of musical taste in America.
He was born in Roumania, of German parents, in 1865, and gained his
musical education at Bucharest and at Vienna, where he studied under
Grün and Hellmesberger. He then received the appointment of
concert-master of the Hofburg Theatre Orchestra, after which he went to
Berlin to fill the same position in Bilse's orchestra, following Halir,
Ysaye, and César Thomson.
When he was called to Boston, at the instance of Mr. Gericke, who was
then the conductor of the Symphony Orchestra, he was only twenty years
of age. He played, on his first appearance as soloist, the Beethoven
concerto, and was at once recognised as a violinist of remarkable
ability.
Mr. Kneisel has never toured the country as a virtuoso, but has been
heard in many of the great cities of America, as solo violinist with
the Symphony Orchestra, and as first violin of the Kneisel Quartet.
He is a master of technique, and surmounts all difficulties with ease;
his tone is pure, and, though not large, is satisfying, and in his
interpretation of the great works he never attempts to enforce his
personality upon the hearer,--in short, he is a true artist. As a
conductor he has marked ability, and as a quartet player he has made a
reputation which will live in the history of music in America, if not in
the whole world.
Charles Gregorowitsch, who visited America in 1898, has risen in a very
short time to a place among the leading violinists of the world.
He was born in 1867 at St. Petersburg, and, his talent making itself
manifest in the usual manner, he was taught by his father until he was
of an age to be sent to Moscow, where he studied until his fifteenth
year, under Besekirskij and Wieniawski. From Moscow he was sent to
Vienna, where he became a pupil of Dont, and finally he studied under
Joachim in Berlin, where he gained the Mendelssohn prize.
Gregorowitsch was the last pupil of Wieniawski, and that master was so
impressed with the great promise of the boy that on first hearing him he
offered to take him as a pupil gratis. Few violinists have had the
advantage which has fallen to the lot of Gregorowitsch, of receiving
instruction from so many great teachers.
Gregorowitsch has travelled extensively throughout Europe, has been
highly honoured in Russia, where the Czar granted him exemption from
military service, and decorated by the King of Portugal. In London he
made his first appearance in 1897, at the Queen's Hall Symphony
concerts.
M. Gregorowitsch is remarkable for a large tone, and in the smoothness
and finish of his playing he has been compared with Sauret and with
Sarasate.
A far greater sensation was caused in America by Willie Burmester than
by Gregorowitsch.
Burmester was born in Hamburg in 1869, and received his first
instruction from his father. He owned his first violin when he was four
years of age, and it came to him from a Christmas tree. This served to
show the talent which he possessed, and the next year he received a
better violin, and began to study in earnest.
When he was eight years old his father took him to Berlin to consult
Joachim, who was, and is, regarded as the oracle for violinists. Joachim
gave some encouragement to the parent, although he does not seem to have
given much to the boy, who in consequence felt somewhat bitter. Four
years later he was again taken to the Berlin Hochschule, to pass his
entrance examination. On this occasion he received the recognition of
the jury, and was admitted to the school, where he began a rigorous
course of technical study. At the end of four years' study under Joachim
he was refused a certificate, for some reason not stated, and he went to
Helsingfors in Finland, where he worked according to his own ideas,
which were to unlearn all he had studied, and begin afresh. During this
period he worked with the greatest perseverance, practising nine or ten
hours a day, and thus developed the wonderful technique which has
astonished the world. For three years he continued this work, supporting
himself meanwhile with a modest appointment which he had obtained.
Before he left Berlin he had worn down the end of his first finger to
the nerve. This troubled him to such a degree that he had several
operations for the purpose of removing it, but the result was not wholly
satisfactory.
Emerging from his retirement in 1894, he went to Berlin again, and gave
a recital in which he met with the most remarkable success. It was
written at the time: "Mr. Burmester comes from an obscure town,
unheralded, and, in the face of indifference, prejudice, and jealousy,
conquered the metropolis off-hand. For nearly half an hour recall
followed recall."
The following season he created an equal impression in London, and
shortly afterward in America.
His technique has been described as "marvellous, almost diabolical."
Difficult pizzicato passages and runs in thirds and tenths at top speed
are but as child's play to him. His left hand pizzicato is marvellous,
and he makes runs in single and artificial harmonics as quickly as most
violinists can play an ordinary scale. He plays harmonics with a vibrato
(Paganini played a double shake in harmonics), and his staccato volante
is developed to an astounding degree of perfection.
When Burmester played in London his success was at once attributed to
Joachim, and he resented it, in view of the fact that he had been denied
his certificate and had narrowly escaped musical suffocation at the
hands of that great master. He had already made the same statement in
Berlin, referring to the fact of his retirement to Helsingfors, and the
development which he had acquired there in solitude.
This announcement brought forth a deluge of letters from "pupils of
Joachim," and in a couple of weeks Burmester wrote another letter
stating that he did not know the Hochschule had as many pupils as those
who had claimed Joachim as their teacher, and who were all unknown. "If
one known pupil of Joachim," he wrote, "will appoint a meeting to
interview me on the subject, I shall be glad to continue it." But the
one known pupil did not come.
The complaint of Mr. Burmester, that the one idea at the Hochschule is
technique, is not new by any means. In every school there are students
with great talent, who find it difficult to subject themselves to the
rigid discipline required by the teacher. It is the stumbling-block on
which many fall. It is, nevertheless, a fact that without a solid
technique the highest perfection in playing cannot be reached, and it is
usually regarded as a hopeless case when the pupil antagonises the
teacher. Many pupils are apt to try and run ahead of their technical
ability, and do not find out their mistake until it is too late. The
argument that Paganini was self-taught leads many a young violinist into
error.
If Burmester is to be judged by his playing of the Beethoven concerto in
Boston, good musicians will declare that Joachim was right in refusing
the certificate, for while his technique was brilliant it appeared to
lack foundation. Time may justify the stand which the young virtuoso has
taken in opposition to his teacher, for he is still young and has time
in which to develop. He has undoubted musical talent and great ability,
but while he may be a celebrated violinist he can hardly yet be
considered a great one, notwithstanding the furore which he caused in
Berlin.
Burmester plays with unassuming simplicity and without cheap display. He
is sincere, but without authority or distinction of style. His tone is
warm and pleasing, but not large, his intonation is not always sure.
One of Burmester's earliest musical friends was Hans Von Bülow, and the
friendship extended over a period of three and a half years, until Von
Bülow went to Cairo shortly before his death.
Von Bülow had inaugurated a series of orchestral concerts in Berlin, and
as they interfered with the Philharmonic series every effort was made to
put a stop to them. Musicians were forbidden to play for Von Büllow,
and many obstacles were placed in his way. Von Büllow's temperament was
such as to intensify the hostility rather than succumb to it. Burmester
was then only sixteen years old, but his sympathy was with Von Büllow,
and he wrote a letter to him offering his services, and expressing his
contempt for the injustice to which he was being subjected. Von Büllow
invited him to attend the rehearsals, and printed the letter which he
had received. Burmester accepted the invitation, and, going to the
rehearsal, found vacant a seat amongst the first violins, which he took.
The rehearsal was about to commence when Von Büllow paused and asked,
"Which of you gentlemen is Burmester?"
The young fellow approached Von Büllow, who had motioned him to come.
"Mr. Burmester," he said, "I have no desk in the first row to offer you
or it would be yours. Gentlemen," he added, turning to the musicians,
"I wish to introduce to you the guest of honour of my orchestra, Mr.
Burmester."
This was the beginning of a friendship, through which the young
violinist showed unswerving loyalty, and it is now one of his greatest
desires to reach a point of independence which will enable him to build
a monument to Von Bülow's memory.
In 1893 a sensation was created in America by the visit of Henri
Marteau, a young French violinist whose excellent playing and charming
personality delighted all who heard him. Marteau was called "the
Paderewski of the Catgut," and he met with a most cordial reception
among musicians.
Marteau was born at Reims in 1874. His father was an amateur violinist
and president of the Philharmonic Society of Reims. His mother was an
accomplished pianist, a pupil of Madame Schumann. He therefore had
every advantage in his early youth for the development of musical taste.
When he was about five years of age Sivori paid a visit to the family,
and was so charmed with the little fellow that he gave him a violin, and
persuaded his parents to let him become a professional violinist.
Marteau now began to take lessons of Bunzl, a pupil of Molique, but
three years later he went to Paris, and was placed under Leonard. In
1884, when ten years of age, he played in public before an audience of
2,500 people, and in the following year he was selected by Gounod to
play the obligato of a piece composed for the Joan of Arc Centenary
celebration at Reims, which piece was dedicated to him.
In 1892 Marteau carried off the first prize for violin playing at the
Paris Conservatoire, and Massenet, the celebrated French composer, wrote
a concerto for him.
When Marteau played in Boston at the Symphony concerts he received
twelve recalls, and immediately became the idol of the hour. The
concerto selected was that in G minor by Bruch, and it was played
without a rehearsal, a fact which reflects great credit on the
orchestra, which was at that time conducted by Mr. Arthur Nikisch.
In the following year Marteau again visited America and brought with him
a concerto composed for him by Dubois. This was played for the first
time by the Colonne orchestra, with Marteau as soloist, at Paris, on
November 28, 1894, and again on the following Sunday. It was next given
at Marseilles on December 12th, and the next performances were at
Pittsburg, Louisville, and Nashville during the second American tour.
Marteau's tone is large, brilliant, and penetrating. His technique is
sure, and he plays with contagious warmth of sentiment and great
artistic charm.
The violin which he used during his American tours was a Maggini, which
once belonged to Maria Theresa of Austria. She gave it to a Belgian
musician who had played chamber music with her in Vienna. He took it to
Belgium, where at his death it became the property of Leonard, who, at
his death, gave it to Marteau.
Alexander Petschnikoff, the son of a Russian soldier, is the latest
violinist who has created a furore in Europe. When he was quite young
his parents moved to Moscow, near which city he was born, and one day a
musician of the Royal Opera House happened to hear the boy, who had
already endeavoured to master the difficulties of the instrument, and he
used his influence to get the lad into the conservatory. Petschnikoff
now became a pupil of Hrimaly, and devoted himself to hard work, earning
some money by teaching even at the age of ten.
In due course he won the first prize and the gold medal at the
conservatory, and was then offered an opportunity to study in Paris,
which he declined. For a time he earned his living by playing in a
theatre orchestra, but fortune smiled upon him, and he became an object
of interest to the Princess Ourosoff, who heard him play at a concert.
Her influence was exerted in his behalf, and he was soon noticed and
courted by the nobility. The princess also made him a present of a
magnificent violin, which formerly belonged to Ferdinand Laub, and is
said to be the most costly instrument in existence.
When he made his début in Berlin, in 1895, his success was
unprecedented, inasmuch as it covered four points,--the artistic,
popular, social, and financial. He has created a furore wherever he has
appeared, and has been recalled as many as sixteen times. So great has
been his success that he is said to have received the highest honorarium
for a single concert ever obtained by a violinist in Europe.
He is described as a man of commonplace appearance, with dull,
expressionless eyes, sluggish movements, and slow, affected manner of
speech. His technique is not astonishing, but he has a full,
penetrating, sympathetic tone. There is no charlatanism or trickery in
his playing, nor any virtuoso effects, but the charm of it rests in his
glowing temperament, ideal conception, and wonderful power of
expression. He has been regarded as phenomenal, because he can move the
hearts of his hearers as few other violinists are able to do.
Petschnikoff has been given an introduction to America, through Mr. Emil
Paur, by Theodor Leschetizky, couched in the most glowing terms, and is
called by him "an artist of the very first rank and of inconceivable
versatility."
One might prolong the list of violinists to a tremendous extent, and yet
fail to mention all those of great merit. In England, John Dunn appears
to be acquiring a great reputation. On the Continent, such names as
Hubay, Petri, Rosé are well known. In America, we have Leopold
Lichtenberg, a good musician of admirable qualifications. Bernhard
Listemann, now of Chicago, has done much toward forming musical taste in
America, and was concert-master of the Boston Symphony Orchestra during
the first few years of its existence. But space does not permit of a
mention of more than has been attempted, and a few pages must be given
to lady violinists and to a few words about celebrated quartets.