Efrem Zimbalist: A Life

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating inside look at the life of a concert violinist
Review: Roy Malan has written a charming and continuously interesting book that not only tells the life story of the great Russian-born violinist Efram Zimbalist, who eventually headed one of America's most important music schools, but also introduces the reader to a tradition of violin pedagogy and virtuoso performance reaching back to the time of Brahms and involving such fascinating characters as Joseph Joachim, Leopold Auer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Mischa Elman, Eugene Ysaye, Jascha Heifetz, and Fritz Kreisler.

Malan is a fabulous raconteur and an excellent writer. Himself a concert violinist, he gives us generous helpings of delectable musical gossip, and does not fail to confront such difficult issues as Zimbalist's desire to sever his Jewish roots, the sometimes painful rivalries between concert stars, and the decline of a musicians' technical powers with age. No specialized musical knowledge is required to understand and enjoy this fascinating book.


Rating:
Summary: Covers all the nuances of his life and times
Review: Roy Malan is himself a famed concertmaster and solo violinist who studied under Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute, so is the perfect critic to provide biographical embellishment to the life of violinist Efrem Zimbalist, one of the directors of the Curtis Institute of Music. Zimbalist began his professional career at the age of nine, became a celebrity at 17 in a debut in Berlin, and became one of the century's greatest teachers of the instrument: Efrem Zimbalist: A Life covers all the nuances of his life and times.