Credits:

Toscha Seidel (or Seidl)

Description:

Violinist Spivakovsky is known for his outstanding bowing. This disc features mainly Bach and Menotti, which are synonymous with him! Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Tossy Spivakovsky (1906-98) was the youngest of nine children, five of whom, including himself, became musicians. Spivakovsky began playing the violin at the age of six and showed remarkable progress, making his recital debut in Berlin as early as 1917. In 1926, he was invited by Furtwängler to become concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, but resigned the following year to concentrate on his solo career. With the rise of the Nazis, he emigrated to the United States via Australia, where he served as concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, led by Artur Roszynski, from 1942 to 1945. During his tenure, he was soloist in the American premiere of Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2 in January 1943.Spivakovsky is especially known for his excellent bowing, so much so that there are books written by experts on the subject, and in the 1950s he used a large curved bow (the equivalent of a so-called "Bach bow") for playing Baroque music. The original recording explains that in Bach's Sonata No. 1, the fast movement is played with a normal bow, while the slow movement and fugue are played with a "Bach bow. Menotti was also eager to work with his contemporaries, and in addition to Bartók, he played concertos by Sessions, Martin, Kirchner, Nielsen, Hartmann, Roja, Stravinsky, and others. The Menotti included here was commissioned and premiered by Zimbalist, but Spivakovsky performed it so frequently that it became synonymous with him. Naxos Japan