THE MICHIGAN DAILY
'eam's
'o Fame
Virovai, 18-Year-Old Violinist
Has Never Had 'Stage Fright'
o
ven Briefly
rt Sketches Of Bartlett
rid Spouse, Robertson
ell Of Early Success
el Barlett was born and e.duca-
i London. Early in, her career'
on the Associated Board Schol-{
to the Royal Academy of
where she studied with Fred-
Moore and Tobias Matthay.
ning to England, she made-her
Ain London. Specializing in the
ichord as well as the piano,
Bartlett was highly successful
r tour of England.
also made a reutatiin forher-
n chamber music, and besides
et, quartet and trio work, was
ated with John Barbirolli, the
t conductor of the New York
armonic-Symphony Orchestra,
lb sonata recitals. When she
3arbirolli were still students to-
t at the Academy, they gave a
m recital which roved highly
ssful.
Playing Gets Attention
Robertson was born in Inver-
Scotland. When he was six, his
ig attracted the attention of a
ian who offered to give him free
ri at the Leipzig Conservatoire.
offer was accepted. Later he
to Edinburgh University to pre-
for his MA, and while there,
med his piano work with Philip
ead. He won the Bucher Schol-
) for music, and was preparing
to Berlin to study with Car-
when the war broke out. In-
therefore, he came to Ldndon
few months and soon joined
ritish forces.
served the entire course of the
was twice wounded, and then
eed to England to a hospital.
.uthorities discovered his genius
e piano, and persuaded him to
he hospital concert party.
Completes Scholarship
er the war he completed his
arship at the Royal Academy.
s at the Academy that he met
Bartlett, whom he soon
.ed.
tlett and Robertson were the
two English artists to play
for two pianos. They have
played all over Europe and
and South America. Last
they played under Toscanini
the 'British Brodacasting Com-
Orchestra in London.
aposers have realized the new
that is open and many authors
written especially for two
s. Arnold Bax has already dedi-
five such works to the two
. .
iliist Believes f
In Planning Life
Won First Prize In Contest
For Musicians At Vienna;
Studied Under Hubay
Robert Virovai, 18-year-old Hun-
garian violinist introduced to this
country lalt season, is one of those
individuals who doesn't know what it
means to have "nerves." Certainly
on the occasion of his debut with
the New York Philharmonic, his
calm seemed in no way ruffled. It
was even learned that he rode to
Carnegie Hall on the top of a bus,
seemingly unperturbediby the thought
of the packed auditorium that await-
ed his coming.
Graduates At 13
Virovai was born in the village of
Daruvar, an ancient spa high in
the Dinaric Alps, not far from the
shores of the Adriatic. He was only
thirteen when he was graduated
from the Conservatory of Music in.
Buda pest. A scholarship enabled
him to continue his studies under
the composer and violinist, the late
Prof. Jeno Hubay.
In 1937, at the International Con-
test for violinists held. in Vienna,
Virovai won the first prize. It was
this accomplishment that first start-
ed him on the way to national fame.
Although he was heard for the
first time in New York when he
came unannounced and unheralded,
all America has heard the story of
the woodman's son who overnight,
became an important musical discov-
ery. In the course of the season he
appeared as soloist with the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, both in that
city and Milwaukee, and with the
Montreal and the Dallas Symphony
orchestra; he played some thirty
recitals in as many cities, and ap-
peared on the Ford Sunday Evening
Radio Hour.
Wrapped Up In Work..
Virovai is wrapped up in his work,
and when he is practising is totally
oblivious to what goes on around him.-
He works from - six to seven hours
a day, except when he is to give a
concert in the evening. He carries
two violins with him-one of Hun-
garian make, and the other a. treas-
ured Stradivarius.
Virovai neither smokes nor does
he drink cocktails or other spiritous
liquor. He gives the inaterviewer
the added information that he does
not .intend -to smoke or- touch liquor
until he is thirty. He doesn't intend
to marry until that age, either.e, In
the intervening twelve years he hopes
to accomplish a lot, just attending
to his music, for his ambition is
a compelling incentive at present. He
is not satisfied with world acclaim;
he wants to make knowledge his
province.
The English language is no longer
a stumbling block, but now serves
him for all the ordinary channels of
conversation.
- Spends Summer In r ew York
Instead of returning to Budapest
after his first American tour last
season, Virovai, who is accompanied
on all his tours by his mother, elect-
ed to spend the summer in the Cat-
skill Mountains of New York, divid-
ing his time between practise and
out-door sports. He interrupted his
vacation long enough to appear as
soloist in the -famous New York City
outdoor series of orchestral concerts
held at the Lewisohn Stadium, and
again won acclaim; according to the
New York Herald-Tribune, to be
counted "in the front rank of con-
temporary violinists."
Virovai will appear at Hill Audi-
torium in the eighth program of the
Choral Union to be presented Jan.
25, 1940. -
Pianist's Visit
Makes Second
Of U.S. Tours,
(Continued from Page 1)
burgh, where he rendered the Anton
Rubinstein Concerto in D Minor with
Serge Koussevitzky conducting the
orchestra.
So well known was he by the end
of the war that Poland granted him J
a passport with the inscription. "On
a mission of art for Poland."
In 1916 he made his first entry
.into Spain, where he was so well re-
ceived that he lengthened his tour
from four recitals to one hundred
and twenty.
This success, was followed by an1
extensive tour of South America so
that he did not reach the United
States again until 1919. His playing
in Carnegie Hall is frequently re-
ferred to as his American debut al-
though he had been to the Hall once
before.
Since that date his time has been
so &uch in demand that he has been
forced to be on the move almost every
month of his life. Last year, having
been absent from America for a
decade, he prefaced his return by one
of his typical tours during which
he gave one hundred and ninety-
two concerts. He returns now, in
1939, for his second official. American
tour.
Concert Programs
Begin Here Oct. 24
(Continued 'from Page 1)
in the world today, Kirsten Flagstad.
Called by the late Lawrence Gilman,
music critic, "the greatest living
singer," Miss Flagstad has teamed
with Lauritz Melchior to make Wag-
nerian opera the most popular of the
Metropolitan aeason. She is entering
upon her sixth'-season in the United
States.
Robert Virovai, 18-year-old Hun-
garian violinist, will appear in the
eighth concert Thursday, Jan. 5. His
debut in Carnegie Hall last Christ-
tnas had critics searching for new
superlatives. "Born fiddler . . .
artistic conscience . . . sensuous
and vibrant tone" . . . were some
of the tributes in next day's music
columns.
Bartlett and Robertson, wife and
husband, two-piano team, make their
second appearance in Ann Arbor
Wednesday, Feb. 14. Both have won
distinction as individual artists, but
far greater acclaim has come with
their blending of two instruments.
Each year they play more than 100
s.{' II
concerts in South America, Great recital by Artur F
Britain and the United States, brought the Hill Ai
Bringing the winter musical activ- ence to its feet last3
ity to a fitting close will be a piano Festival
ear
TRIBUTE Ey
MR. ARTHUR HILL, a graduate and a loyal son
of the University of Michigan, bequeathed the
funds for the now famous Hill Auditorium.
Since the auditorium was built in 1913, the.
Choral Union Concerts have been held there.
Mr. Hill has, by his generosity, greatly con-
tributed to the musical culture of Ann Arbor
and the University of Michigan.
II
SCHEDULE o IE
SEASON TICKETS
The prices of season tickets are $12.00, $10.00, $8.00, and $6.00.
Each season ticket contains a coupon good for $3.00 in exchange
for a season May Festival ticket.
Three center sections, both on the main floor and in the first
balcony, $12.00 each. (These $12.00 tickets are designated "Patrons'
Tickets," and entitle the holder to the same location for the next
May Festival when exchanged in accordance with a May Festival
schedule to be announced.)
Two side sections both on the main floor and in the first
balcony, $10.00 each.
First sixteen rows in the second balcony, $8.00.
Back of the first sixteen rows in the second balcony, $6.00,
SINGLE CONCERTS
The prices of individual concert tickets are: Main floor, $2.50;
first balcony, $2.00; and second balcony, first sixteen rows, $1.50;
balance of second balcony, $1.00.
If the seats in any division become exhausted remaining orders
will be filled from succeeding divisions, and a corresponding adjust-
ment in finances will be nade.
Beginning Monday, October 9, all unsold tickets, both season and
individual, will he offered for sale "over-the-counter."
No resonsibility will be assumed for errors made in connectiod
with orders written illegibly or inaccurately, or in connection with
telehone conversations, or for tickets lost, stolen, burned, or other-
wise destroyed.
Bartlett And
Are Still
Robertson
Sentimental
f .
Fm
Ff
4
gS
F&
"Ir KIR ST"E N FL A.GSTA D
at true immortal of mfusic.
{OTHING MORE NEED BE SAID than the
name Kirsten Flagstad, for she has sung
in Ann Arbor on two previous occasions.
No other artist has ever excelled her in
winning the hearts of music lovers. Her
appearances always mean packed houses.
CHORAL UNION CONCERTS
MONDAY JANUARY 15
ert Virovai, young genius of
iolin who is to appear next
at Hill Auditorium, believes in
med economy of life. He has
ed his accordingly-that is, up
1. He'll be thirty then and con-
that age old enough for a
s consideration of marriage.
has no one in view as yet; his
girl is Mitze, a cat of royal
n descent, who is now in Bel-
Virovai wanted to bring her
im to America, but his mother
ed.
If you want to be 1 reassured that
romance has not gone out of art,
that high pressure salesmanship is
not the only thing that makes for
success, go to see Ethel Bartlett and
Rae Robertson, and find out how
they came to play two-piano music.
The two people met while they
were studying at the Royal Academy
of music and were married soon af-
ter. In order to stay together,
rather than be separated from ech
other for long periods of time, the
pair decided to present a two-piano
recital. The program was so well
appreciated that the . practice has
been continued. And the pair are
still happily married.
The great ambition of Bartlett
and Robertson, married in real life.
is to retire to a private island. The
island is a spot of land in the Heb-
rides off the. north coast of the
British Isles, and it's for sale. The
pianists spend their holidays there
now. They won't reveal its exact
locatioin for "fear that some one
else will go there and perhaps buy
it before we have a chance to do
so.
I ORDER BLANK
CHARLES A. SINK, President
Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Enclosed find remittance of $. ............. in payment
for, ...........Choral Union tickets as follows:
SEASON TICKETS- INDiVIDUAL
10 CONCERTS CONCERTS
.... tickets at $12 each $.... Tickets: $2.50-$2-$1.50-$1
.... tickets at $10 each $.... Sergei Rachmaninoff at $....
....tickets at $8 each $... Fritz Kreisler ...... at $..
. ..tickets at $6 each $.... Alexander Kipnis .. at $.
Total .......$ New York Orchestra at $....
Please Write Name Plainly Jussi Bjoerling ,.... at $....
Name.....................Boston Orchestra.. at $.
Stret irsten Flagstad .. at $...
Street.... Robert Virovai .... at $....
City ...... .,...............Bartlett & Robertson at $....
L State ... ...... ......... Artur Rubinstein .. at $...
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'f
a
SUPERB
GREAT
MUS
IC by
TWO
SYMPHONIES
and two great conductors
THE BOSTON SYMPHONY
THE BOSTON SYMPHONY was founded more
than fifty years ago. For many years it was
supported largely by Colonel Henry A.
Higginson, a wealthy Boston music lover,
THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
A DECADE AGO the New York Philharmonic
Symphony Orchestra evolved from the two
great orchestras which had existed for many
years, the Philharmonic and the New York
SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY has direct-
ed the destinies of the Boston Sym-.
phony Orchestra for the past dozen
years. The orchestra is now in its fifty-
ninth season; and its record is phenom-
enal. Other distinguished conductors
have presided over its welfare, but it
remained for Koousevitzky to substan-
who is said to have made his fortune largely
from Michigan copper. The many appear-
ances in Ann Arbor in a sense is a compen-
sation for its support during its early days.
Symphony.
Both of these organizations
i
appeared in Ann Arbor. But this year's
concerts will be the first time that a New
York orchestra has played in- the Choral
Bially advance i
mlivadvnceis accomnnhishnnts in -..