He played cards with Wieniawski. He was friends with Bulgakov, who adored Glinka’s Romances. He was at Tolstoy’s house when Laub and Rubinstein played the Kreutzer Sonata. He saw Joachim and Sivori and Sarasate play live. He played a Maggini that once belonged to Vieuxtemps. He played chamber music in private with Clara Schumann and with Liszt. Who was this person?
As part of my ongoing research, I’ve been looking into the life and career of Russian violinist Vasily Vasilievich Bezekirsky. He studied with Léonard and, at Joachim's suggestion, Kömpel (a student of Spohr) – which made him a Russian/Franco-Belgian/German school amalgam. He was a soloist and composer in his own right and spent most of his career as leader of the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra.
Bezekirsky withheld his memoirs from publication for years because he feared the persecution of censorship. Now translated into English, they offer a glimpse into the fascinating if restrictive world of Russian musical life in the second half of the 19c – a world where it was not uncommon for more than one solo violinist to appear on the same program.
He relates how, at a concert in 1852, Wieniawski played the first half and Neruda the second and, when she got an ovation and flowers from Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski “suddenly appeared again on the stage with his violin and loudly demanded that he wished to demonstrate his superiority over Neruda.” (OMG)
In 1867 Voronezh, Bezekirsky played the first half of a concert, Apollinaire Konstki the second, then they played duets.
In 1872 Moscow, Joachim performed Spohr’s 2 Violin Duo with Laub. Around the same time, Bezekirsky performed Alard's Concerto for 2 Violins with Sarasate.
All this is making me think harder about the nature of soloism and the role of rivalry and competition in defining musical identity.
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