The German violinist Edith Peinemann rehearsing Bartóks 2nd violin concerto in 1966 under the baton of Pietro Argento. Peinemann was born in Mainz, Germany, the daughter of a Mainz orchestras concertmaster, with whom she learned violin until the age of fourteen. She later studied with Max Rostal in London, and would fulfill the prophecy of violinist Yehudi Menuhin who, upon hearing her play when she was 19, predicted a brilliant and successful career. In 1956, she won the first prize in the International Competition of the German Radio in Munich. At that competition, conductor William Steinberg, who was among the judges, invited her to make her American debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, which she did in 1962. Word spread among Germanys conductors, such as Max Rudolf, about her achievements in the U.S., including her Cleveland debut where she played Dvoraks Violin Concerto. George Szell saw her perform in Cleveland, invited her to perform with him at the Concertgebouw in Rotterdam in 1963, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the New York Philharmonic, and often gave her coaching before concerts. She began to call him Uncle George, as they developed a close friendship during that period. Szell made a special attempt to obtain private funds from wealthy donors to buy her a violin of finer quality, which he helped her select. Peinemann recalls his assistance: [Szell] was in Zurich and I had my violin dealer from Bern who had a lot of fine instruments come to Zurich. We went to the concert hall there and Mr. Szell went into the audience and I played to him five fine violins: two Guarneri, three Stradivari. And he chose the one I have now, a Guarneri. . . . He was marvelous to young musicians. See more at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Peinemann
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 02:48:23 +0000
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