Tossy Spivakovsky - Tossy Spivakovsky Plays Bach, Beethoven & Menotti

Tossy Spivakovsky (1906-98) was one of the finest violinists of the 20th century. Born in the Ukraine, young Tossy made his Berlin debut at the age of 11. He continued his studies with Will Hess, the teacher of Adolf Busch and Georg Kullenkampff. At the age of only 18, Spivakovsky was appointed as concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic by Wilhelm Furtwängler. After two years, Spivakovsky to pursue a career as a violin soloist. With the advent of the National Socialist regime under Hitler, Spivakovky went to Australia in 1932, before emigrating to the U.S. in 1939, where he became concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1942-45. After the Second World War, Spivakovsky was established as one of the great violinists of the 20th century. In addition to being a remarkable virtuoso, Spivakovsky had a unique bowing technique which he applied to playing the solo sonatas and partitas by J. S. Bach. As documented in his recording of the Bach G-minor Solo Sonata, he was able to play the multi- voice fugues in single instead of arpeggiated chords. In fact, Spivakovsky's unique bowing technique inspired the renowned violin pedagogue Gaylord Yost to write a book entitled "The Spivakovsky Way of Bowing". In addition to the standard repertoire, Spivakovsky championed many contemporary works. In addition to the 20th-century concertos by Nielsen, Bartók and Stravinsky, he played concertos by Roger Sessions, Leroy Robertson, Frank Martin, Leon Kirchner, Miklos Rózsa, as well as Leonard Bernstein's Serenade. Most famous of all is Spivakovsky's passionate rendition of Gian Carlo Menotti's Violin Concerto. Accompanied by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, this spectacular recording should help inspire a renewed interest in this fabulous concerto.