A contribution to Violinist.com
I
was present when Mr Szeryng performed the Tchaikovsky concerto in Cardiff in
1976, and my father, another fan, and a keen amateur violinist, listened to the
concert on the radio. I shall never forget that event, and I still have several
of Mr Szeryng’s recordings. Regarding
Mr Szeryng’s failure to be recognised even more than he actually was, I cannot
see how he could have been, really. He became, despite several obstacles, such
as a career interrupted by a major war, one of the recognised great violinists
of his time, and I think that is probably the best any violinist can do in this
period in history.
What
I am trying to say, is that I whereas I would rank Mr Szeryng alongside the
other great violinists of his time, such as Milstein, Francescatti, Grumiaux,
Menuhin, and Oistrakh, I would not place him alongside Heifetz and the other
immortals of the golden age, such as (and I am excluding, here, of course, the
early “greats” such as Corelli) Paganini; Joachim; Sarasate; and Ysaye. I
really do believe this group, and I might include, at a pinch, Wieniawski and
Kreisler, were in a league of their own; each not only possessing a totally
recognisable violinistic personality, but also changing violin history. To join
them, a violinist now has to move violin playing forward in some recognisable
way. He would have to be recognised as being markedly superior to the last of
them (Heifetz). This will not make him greater than Heifetz (or Sarasate or the
others), because they belong to different eras; it will simply allow him to
stand alongside them in violin history. And I do not think this is possible,
because we have reached, I think, the limit of what two human hands can do with
a violin.
Quantum
jumps in violin playing are no longer possible, I firmly believe, but I would,
of course, be happy to be proved wrong.
(Sorry about the mix in font sizes on these pages, everyone. There appears to be a glitch in the programme.)
(Sorry about the mix in font sizes on these pages, everyone. There appears to be a glitch in the programme.)
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