Mischa Elman
Elman was the second prodigy pupil of Leopold Auer (after Efrem Zimbalist) to become internationally famous before adolescence. Their Hungarian-born teacher -- a student of Joachim and subsequent mentor of Toscha Seidel, Jascha Heifetz and Nathan Milstein -- was appointed professor of violin at the St. Petersburg Imperial Conservatory in 1868. He remained until the Revolution, then moved to the U.S. In 1878, Tchaikovsky dedicated his violin concerto to Auer, but withdrew the honor when the latter declared it "unplayable." Later on, Auer recanted, performed the work repeatedly, and made a point of teaching it to all his students including Elman, who came to cherish it as his own.
Mischa was 11 when his father brought him to Auer, vacationing in Odessa, where the family had moved to further the boy's natural talent. When he played Paganini's 24th Caprice and the Wieniawski Second Concerto, Auer insisted the Imperial Conservatory accept him immediately. In St. Petersburg, Mischa gave private concerts for arts patrons, one of whom, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, gave him an Amati violin. Progress was so rapid that Auer decided Mischa should play a concert in Berlin (where a 10-year-old protégé of Joachim had created a sensation in 1903).
On October 13, 1904, the day before his debut, Elman played privately for Joachim, who could only manage to say, "I am speechless." Not so the audience, which cheered the 13-year-old phenomenon. In 1905 he took England by storm, and joined Nellie Melba and Enrico Caruso in a concert at Buckingham Palace for Edward VII and Alfonso of Spain. Called "the greatest violinist in the world" by London critics, Elman made his American debut in Carnegie Hall on December 10, 1908 -- one month shy of his 17th birthday -- playing the Tchaikovsky concerto with the Russian Symphony Society of New York. Victor Records promptly signed him to a contract (salon music mainly, played with impeccable intonation and rich tone, but with nineteenth century mannerisms forever retained). Elman also made a series of recordings with Caruso and Frances Alda, and excerpts from works by Dittersdorf, Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert with an "Elman String Quartet." By 1912, he had appeared with every major U.S. orchestra, including 31 performances with the Boston Symphony! By 1913, his annual record royalties were $35,000, and in 1916 Carl Sandburg wrote a paean to his playing entitled Bath.
Then Heifetz, who was Auer's masterpiece, made his American debut in Carnegie Hall on October 27, 1917. He was 16, a decade younger than Elman, who asked his box-partner at intermission, "Isn't it getting hot in here?" "Not for pianists," Leopold Godowsky famously replied. Elman continued touring far and wide, but a supernova had usurped his celebrity -- a technician nonpareil, a musician in the "modern" tradition, although Elman continued to be celebrated as "the violinist with the golden tone." In 1926, Vitaphone made a six-minute "full-sound" film of him playing Dvorák and Gossec. Then came concerto recordings: his first Tchaikovsky in 1929, others later, although he didn't make a complete sonata recording until after WWII. In 1951, Elman switched to London Decca, recording concertos conducted by Boult, the young Solti, and Krips (Mozart with treacle). The last decade found him recording in Vienna for Vanguard, but never the Martinu Second Concerto he commissioned in 1943 -- only Khachaturian's populist artifact. In 1962, A Golden Hour from the Royal Opera House on BBC-TV sandwiched Elman, playing two salon trifles, between flamenco by José Greco and a Royal Ballet pas de deux. Then Callas and di Stefano came on, and got the lion's share of attention and applause.
© TiVo
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A Portrait of Mischa Elman
Mischa Elman, Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Vladimir Golschmann, Joseph Seiger
Klassiek - Released by Omega Vanguard on 1 jan. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elman, Mischa: Violin Virtuoso Masterpieces
Klassiek - Released by Vanguard on 25 nov. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto; Suite for Orchestra No. 3 (Adrian Boult – The Decca Legacy III, Vol. 5)
Mischa Elman, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Sir Adrian Boult
Klassiek - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 7 okt. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
10 Great Violinists of the 20th Century
Kamermuziek - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 3 apr. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The 1939 Victor Recordings
Hulda Lashanska, Mischa Elman, Franz Rupp, Emanuel Feuermann, Rudolf Serkin
Klassiek - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 30 aug. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky & Wieniawski: Violin Works
Mischa Elman, Joseph Seiger, Robin Hood Dell Orchestra, Alexander Hilsberg
Klassiek - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 7 jul. 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1; Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 2 (Adrian Boult – The Decca Legacy III, Vol. 4)
Mischa Elman, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Klassiek - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 jan. 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, Paganini & Others: Violin Works (Remastered 2023)
Klassiek - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 20 okt. 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Violin Concerto, BWV 1042 - Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto, Op. 35
Sir John Barbirolli, Mischa Elman
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 29 jan. 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Mendelssohn, Schumann & Others: Works for Violin & Piano (Remastered 2024)
Kamermuziek - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 1 mrt. 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4; Violin Concerto
Mischa Elman, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Klassiek - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 15 aug. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Solo Victor Recordings
Kamermuziek - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 1 dec. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Massenet Meditation Thais
Jazz - Released by Black Sheep Music on 10 apr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart Violin Concertos No. 4 No. 5
The New Symphony Orchestra, Mischa Elman
Klassiek - Released by Everest Records on 10 sep. 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Solo Victor Recordings
Mischa Elman, Percy Kahn, Walter Golde, Philip Gordon, Josef Pasternack
Klassiek - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 1 dec. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mischa Elman Collection, Vol. 1 (Live)
Klassiek - Released by DOREMI on 1 jan. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Christmas Music: Cantique de Noël (O Holy Night) (Recordings of 1916 - 1926)
Enrico Caruso, Mischa Elman, Victor Orchestra, Josef Pasternack, John Mccormack
Kerstmuziek - Released by Christmas Album on 31 dec. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Solo Victor Recordings, Vol. 4
Mischa Elman, Arthur Loesser, Josef Pasternack, Emanuel Balaban, Josef Bonime, Unknown Artist
Klassiek - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 1 dec. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Solo Victor Recordings
Mischa Elman, Philip Gordon, Joseph Bonime
Kamermuziek - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 1 dec. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mischa Elman plays Tchaikovsky & Mendelssohn Concertos (Mischa Elman - Paul Paray - Dimitri Mitropoulos)
Mischa Elman, Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Paul Paray, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Klassiek - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 nov. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo