Music and My Jewish Question

Chapter 2 Music and My Jewish Question

RA: What drew you to the violin over the piano?

Michael: Well, my mother wanted me to play the piano, and my father wanted me to play the violin. I tried to play both for a while, but that was too much for me. My mother was something of a perfectionist, while my father was softer. That may be why I gravitated toward the violin. Over the first five years, I got quite far studying with my father.

Then, in 1954, when I was twelve years old, I heard the first concert of the Ak- ron Symphony Orchestra that my father conducted.1 The program included Beethoven’s Symphony no. 3 in E♭major, (“Eroica”), as well as Berlioz’s Rákóczi March. But I was completely blown away by Josef Gingold’s performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor.

After the concert, I announced to my father that I wanted to become a violinist and I wanted to study with Gingold. My father talked with Gingold about it, and he accepted me as a scholarship student. That was the beginning of more serious work with the instrument.

My lessons with Gingold were at the Cleveland Music School Settlement. I had weekly lessons with him. They were supplemented with weekly lessons with Gingold’s assistant, Janet Drinkel. As I would walk into his studio, there, in his open case on the sideboard, would be his Stradivarius. I’d glance at it in awe as I walked by it, take out my own student instrument, and have my lesson. Once in a while, he would pick up his instrument and demonstrate a passage for me on it. It was inspiring. Often, my mother would accompany me on the piano at my lessons.

RA: Can you recall any especially memorable moments with Gingold?

Michael: Yes. I recall an extraordinary moment. I was playing Ernest Bloch’s Vidui, which is part of his Baal Shem Suite. It is a soulful work. In the middle of

1 Laszlo Krausz conducted the Akron Symphony Orchestra from 1954–1959, and founded the Akron Youth Orchestra in 1955.

34 Chapter 2 my playing, he stopped me and said, in his heavy Russian-Belgian accent and gravelly voice, “Michael, you know, the notes are fine. But you’re not making music.” I asked, “What do you mean?” He picked up his instrument from his case. Standing next to him, my head came up to about the height of his shoul- der. With his left hand, he placed his violin under his chin. With his right hand, he gently tucked my head under his instrument and placed it so that my right ear connected with the underside of his instrument. Then, with my head cra- dled upon his forearm, he picked up his bow and played the whole piece with such emotion and finesse! When he finished, he said, “Okay, Michael, now you do it that way.” He showed me how to play it. He showed me. That was Gingold.

RA: Can you say more about Gingold himself? What was his background?

Michael: Gingold was a student of the great master, Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe— to whom works by Claude Debussy, Camille Saint-Saens, Cesar Franck, and Er- nest Chausson were dedicated. That was Gingold’s lineage. In a loving way, he was demanding. He had the highest standards. He was uncompromising, but he was also utterly charming.

Gingold had played under Arturo Toscanini with the nbc Symphony Orches- tra in New York. He then became the concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony. Then he became the Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra. Did I men- tion? After he retired from the Cleveland Orchestra, he became professor of violin at Indiana University. He was famous for being a major violin pedagogue. Some of his students eventually became household names in the music world, including people such as Jaime Laredo and Joshua Bell. By the way, Laredo later was a soloist with my father with the Akron Symphony Orchestra. Many years later still, I connected with Laredo and violist Michael Tree in connection with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra (pco). They served as co-Artistic Di- rectors and I served as Associate Artistic Director of the pco. But that story will come later.

After a solid foundation from my father, I made significant strides on my instrument with Gingold. I was, of course, honored to be one of his students, and because I was a Gingold student, I was treated specially by music teachers in school. At that time, I was at Roosevelt Junior High School and played in its orchestra, which was then conducted by a Mr. Von Unruh. I was concertmaster. I remember when we played a version of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Schehe- razade, which requires a sustained solo part for the concertmaster. For a short while, I worked on it with Gingold. But I sensed that he thought I wasn’t up to it. He was right!