From the ARCHIVE

The Strad ’s Egyptian correspondent Alexander Ruppa gives an account of two (not entirely successful) performances by violinist Bronisław Huberman

FROM THE STRAD

FEBRUARY

1934

VOL.64 NO.526

Bronislaw Huberman, the world-famous violinist, is again among us in Egypt, and played twice to the Alexandria and Cairo public with conspicuous success. It is somewhat hard to find among our international celebrities a violinist whose musicianship and dynamic personality are so striking. To speak in absolute terms, it is a fact that Huberman is more of a musician than a violinist. If you are a violinist yourself, you will be surely amazed at the transcendental technique of Kubelik, Heifetz and Prihoda, which is in a class by itself – and forget all about it the next morning. While the technical attainments of Huberman cannot bear comparison to those of these three giants, his compelling artistic personality grips your soul from the very moment he sets his bow across the strings and keeps you enthralled right to the last note and for a long time after.

I heard Huberman for the first time on February 17th, 1910, here in Alexandria, and it was the very first time he was playing in Egypt. Huberman appealed to me then, as he appeals to me now, after the lapse of nearly a quarter of a century, by his warm earnestness and the pathos of his emotional depth which radiate from him. It must, however, be reluctantly admitted that Huberman’s technique is no longer what it was in 1910. The violinist’s temperament, which has always been a passionate one, has now grown somewhat “nervy,” and this is adversely reflected in his playing. In the present instance he was playing on the well-known Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu, ex Alfred Gibson, dated 1734. This instrument has a lovely one-piece back of beautifully figured maple. Its tone is “aggressively” Guarnerian, very powerful and incisive, with a metallic shade, which was further stressed by Huberman’s virile and unrestrained playing. In fact that distinctly metallic tinge was, in my opinion, anything but pleasant to a refined ear, and clearly recalled to my mind a similarity in the tone of the E string of Marteau’s famous Maggini, which formerly belonged to the Empress Maria-Theresa of Austria. An aggravating circumstance in this case was that the G string of the Guarnerius was too low and invariably clattered against the fingerboard whenever it was subjected to a slashing stroke of the bow. It seems to me that such trivial defects could be easily remedied in good time instead of giving rise to criticism and marring the playing of a great artist. When all is said and done, it is obvious that Huberman’s present style of playing would have improved had he used a less pungent and assertive instrument than a Guarnerius del Gesu.

SUXIAO YANG