}~1
e6, 1940 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE T
:RTEEN
G
mreat Names SerkIn ]fakes Enviable Record
Sprinkle Lists As Youthful Concert Pianist
v rasts eries
Accounts Of Five Years,
Read Like The Rolls
Of Musi's Who's-Who
For 61 successive years the Choral
Union has presented to Ann Arbor
audiences the best obtainable in con-
cert performers. The list of artists
who have appeared locally reads like
the roll of a musical who's-who. The
past five years, for example, have
presented the following stars:
1934
Rosa Ponselle, Lawrence Tibbett,
Don Cossacks, Josef Szigeti, Boston
Symphony, Lotte Lehman, Jose
Iturbi, Gordon String Quartet, Ar-
thur Schnabel.
1935
Metropolitan Opera Quartet, Rach-
maninoff, Don Cossacks, Fritz Kreis-
ler, Boston Symphony, St. Louis Sym-
phony, Kalesch String Quartet, De-
ltxoit Symphony, John Charles Thom-
as, Myra Hess.
1936
Kirsten Flagstad, Chicago Sym-
phony, Moscow Cathedral Choir,
Jascha Heifetz, Boston Symphony,
Josef Hofmann, Detroit Symphony,
Gregor Piatagorsky, Artur Schanbel,
Nelson Eddy.
After only seven years in this coun-
try, Rudolf Serkin has established an
enviable record unequalled by many
concert pianists. Last season he made
11 appearances in New York alone
and appearances as guest soloist with
eight major symphony orchestras in
addition to a lengthy tour that car-
ried him all over the country.
Serkin came of a musically talent-
ed family and at four could already
play creditably and read music with
facility. His father had been forced
to give up a singing career to earn
enough money as a merchant to
suppbrt his large family.
Although his parents needed the
money that might have come from
exploiting their son as a child prod-
igy, they listened to the advice of the
pianist, Alfred Gruenfeld, and sent
their son from Czecho-Slovakia to
be placed under the tutelage of Pro-
fessor Richard Robert.
Made Debut At 12
At 12 Serkin made his debut as
guest artist with the Vienna Sym-
phony Orchestra, but his teachers
and parents decided he was still too
young to accept the offers of a long
tour made by several managers.
He continued his studies for sev-
eral years doing special work in com-
position under Arnold Schoenberg.
When he finally did begin his career,
he quickly made a success, playing
i
i
in France, England, Switzerland,
Italy, Spain and Austria. He made
several tours in joint recital with
Adolf Busch, the violinist.
In 1933 he came to the United
States for the first time to play at
the Coolidge Festival in Washington.
The following winter he made his
American solo debut under the direc-
tion of Arturo Toscanini, who con-
ducted the New York Philharmonic
Symphony, and quickly won New
York audience approval, as well as
the favor of concert audiences all
over the country during tours in en-
suing seasons.
Met Wife At 17
Serkin's wife is the daughter of
his musical collaborator, Adolf Busch.
They met when she was four and he
was 17. He says, "She announced then
that she was going to marry me and
I told her I would wait for her to
grow up. As things worked out I
did just that." They have two child-
ren and now make their home in
New York.
The pianist turns to mountain
climbing and skiing for relaxation,
although another one of his hobbies
is toy electric engines. On of his idio-
syncrasies is to keep two pianos in
his New York apartment- in rooms
as far apart as possible. He practices
for a while in one, then goes to the
other room. "To give the neighbors
at each end a rest," he explains.
Marian Anderson
Will Open Series
(Continued from Page 11)
years touring the capitols of Europe.
Born in Kieff, Russia, in 1904, Mr.
Horowitz began his concert career in
Continental Europe in 1925. He made
his American debut in 1928 with the
New York Philharmonic.
The outstanding symphony of the
middle-west, the Minneapolis Sym-
phony Orchestra is the third and
final orchestra to perform in, the
Choral Union Series here Jan. 28.
The Minneapolis comes here under
the baton of its conductor, Dimitri
Mitropoulos.
The Budapest String Quartet will
brings its repertoire of ensemble music
here Feb. 20. Versatile in their choice
of numbers, the quartet has given
nearly 1,000 concerts, including cities
from Norway to the Canary Islands
and eight circuits of the United
States.
Georges Enesco, well-known con-
cert violinist, will conclude the sixty-
second Choral Union series on March
4 in Hill Auditorium.
Minneapolis Orchestra Resumes
Touring After Short Lay-Off
After a lapse of three seasons, the
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra,
with Dimitri Mitropoulos as conduc-
tor, is resuming its annual tour which
brings it to Ann Arbor this season
as a feature of the Choral Union
series.
The orchestra first toured i 1906
when it took a three day trip to
towns in the vicinity of Minneapolis.
Since then it has been heard in 41
states and two foreign countries, fill-
ing 1,320 engagements and playing
to audiences ranging from 300 to
6,000 people.
Finds A Sponsor
Starting merely as an accompany-
ing unit in a choral society in Men-
neapolis, the orchestra finally found
a sponsor who foresaw the value of
a sound musical organization and
what it would mean to the commun-
ity. Fifty city residents were then'
contacted and a guaranty fund of
$30,000 raised to aid Emil Oberhoof-
er, the first director, launch the ven-
ture. In 1903, 50 men gave their init-
ial concert. In 1905 a new auditor-
ium patterned after Symphony Hall
in Boston was constructed. In 1930
the orchestra was housed in Northrop
Memorial Auditorium on the Uni-
versity of Minnesota campus and
it became a part of university life.
Famous Conductors Listed
Among the famous conductors who
have worked with the orchestra after
Oberhoofer's retirement have been
Eugene Ormandy, Artur Bodanzky,
Jose Iturbi, and Mitropoulos. The
last, after making his American de-
but with the Boston Symphony or-
chestra in 1936, became permanent
conductor of the Minneapolis orches-
tra in 1938. Since his inception as
leader, attendence at concerts has
jumped 15 per cent, enrollment at
the University of Minneasota has in-
creased, as has the number of stu-
dents at small schools in the vicinity
of Minneapolis. The opportunity to
hear excellent music by a noted or-
chestra accounts for this, it is be-
lieved. In addition to regular con-
1937
4
Rachmaninoff, Cleveland Sym-
phony Orchestra, Richard Crooks,
Fritz Kreisler, Boston Symphony,
Ruth Slenczynski, Helsinki Univer-
sity Chorus, Gina Cigna, Roth String
Quartet, Georges Enesco.
1938
Lawrence. Tibbett, Cleveland Or-
chestra, Jose Iturbi, Boston Sym-
phony, Josef Hofmann, Bartlett and
Robertson, Yehudi Menuhin, Gregor
Piatigorsky.
1939
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Fritz Kreis-
1er, Alexander Kipnis, New York Phil-
harmonic Orchestra, Jussi Bjoerling,
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Kirs-
ten Flagstad, Robert Virovai, Bart-
lett and Robertson, Artur Rubin-
stein,
Nine Million Hear
Orchestra On Air
More people hear the afternoon
broadcast of the Philharmonic Sym-
phony every Sunday than heard it
in concert during the ninety-seven
years of the Society's existence.
During the 3,525 concerts that the
Philharmonic had given up to the
end of the 1939-40 season is is esti-
mated that more than eight million
people were in attendance but more
than nine million people hear the
Sunday afternoon concert through
the medium of the radio. This audi-
ence is equal to the combined popu-
lations of Norway and Sweden.
The radio audience is not content
to sit back and listen but they exer-
cise their rights as listeners to praise
and criticize the performances. Each
week thousands of letters are receiv-
ed by the Philharmonic society which
contain the varied opinions of their
radio audience-people from every
walk of life.
III
BUDAPEST
STRING
QUARTET
DON
COSSACK
T CHORU)S
SERGE JAROFF,
Conductor
Serge Joroff
The Don Cossack Chorus will renew its acquaintance
with Ann Arbor November 18. This group, under the
direction of Serge Jaroff, has recently completed its
11 th season in this country. They, 34 strong, will en-
tain with folk songs, Cossack soldier songs, and liturgies
dating back 1000 years with which they thrilled 100
cities last year in five months.
CHORAL UNION CONCERT
Monday, Noveber 18
On the evening of Thursday, February 20, the
Budapest String Quartet comes to Ann Arbor
to entertain you with their chamber music.
This outstanding group is on its eighth tour
of the United States and has had tremendous
success on each tour. They have given nearly
1,000 concerts from Norway to the* Canary
I
CHORAL UNION
THURSDAY,
FEBRUARY 20
Islands and are sure to please you.
I
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1
Three
great Symphonies
and
Three Great Conductors
will produce Superb Music
Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky has directed the
destinies of the Boston Symphony
Orchestra for the past 13 years. The
orchestra is now in its sixtieth season,
and its record is phenomenal. Other
distinguished conductors have presid-
ed over its welfare, but it remained for
Koussevitzky to substantially advance
its accomplishments in many direc-
tions.
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, who is said to have
made his fortune largely from Michigan
copper. The many appearances of this
orchestra in Ann Arbor speaks for itself
as to its popularity in this section of the
country.
THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
This is the second time the New York
Philharmonic has come to Ann Arbor
after the merger of the Philharmonic and
the New York Symphony, two great
orchestras which both appeared in this
city. Last year the Philharmonic stole
the hearts of the audience. It will be
every bit as good this year, this its ninety-
ninth year as leader of American sym-
phonies.
John Barbirolli
John Barbirolli succeeded Arthuro Tos-
canini as conductor of the New York
Philharrnonic. With the position he
accepted the responsibility of main-
taining the forefront position which
the orchestra had attained under Tos-
canini. John Barbirolli has not only
maintained but has carried forward
their artistic accomplishments.
4
Dimitri Mitropoulos
Dimitri Mitropoutos will lead the Minneapolis Symphony Orch-
estra in its local debut. The Greek-born conductor four years