"All really good violinists are good artists. Sarasate, whom I knew so
intimately and remember so well, was a pupil of Alard (my father's
teacher). He literally sang on the violin, like a nightingale. His
purity of intonation was remarkable; and his technical facility was the
most extraordinary that I have ever seen. He handled his bow with
unbelievable skill. And when he played, the unassuming grace of his
movements won the hearts of his audiences and increased the enthusiasm
awakened by his tremendous talent.
"We other violinists, all of us, occasionally play a false note, for we
are not infallible; we may flat a little or sharp a little. But never,
as often as I have heard Sarasate play, did I ever hear him play a wrong
note, one not in perfect pitch. His Spanish things he played like a god!
And he had a wonderful gift of phrasing which gave a charm hard to
define to whatever he played. And playing in quartet--the greatest solo
violinist does not always shine in this _genre_--he was admirable.
Though he played all the standard repertory, Bach, Beethoven, etc., I
can never forget his exquisite rendering of modern works, especially of
a little composition by Raff, called _La Fée d'Amour_. He was the first
to play the violin concertos of Saint-Saëns, Lalo and Max Bruch. They
were all written for him, and I doubt whether they would have been
composed had not Sarasate been there to play them. Of course, in his own
Spanish music he was unexcelled--a whole school of violin playing was
born and died with him! He had a hobby for collecting canes. He had
hundreds of them of all kinds, and every sovereign in Europe had
contributed to his collection. I know Queen Christina of Spain gave him
no less than twenty. He once gave me a couple of his canes, a great sign
of favor with him. I have often played quartet with Sarasate, for he
adored quartet playing, and these occasions are among my treasured
memories.