concert Ivry Gitlis plays Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, Bartók and Elgar Orchestre National de l'ORTF, Francesco Mander (direction) - Georges Pludermacher (piano) - Tasso Janopoulo (piano)

After a childhood in Israel, where his father worked as a miller, he studied at the Paris Conservatory where Bronislav Huberman had sent him. He obtained a First Prize at the age of thirteen and became the disciple of Jacques Thibaud. "A man violin" says the student of the master. A refugee in England during the war, he won the Fifth Prize (only!) in the Long-Thibaud Competition in 1951 and made his debut the same year in Paris. He has played with the greatest orchestras and shares his love for music with the greatest artists (Martha Argerich, Pierre Fournier, Mischa Maisky…), who gather each summer at the Festival de Vence which he founded.

He is certainly one of the most talented and brilliant violinists of the 20th century. His agility is amazing, as in his astonishing interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 35  accompanied by the National Orchestra of the ORTF conducted by Francesco Mander: from his bow the music springs forth like a stream and we don't know which to admire more, his virtuosity or his musical intelligence.

In the three pieces that follow, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saëns; Bartók's Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz.117  (III Melodia) and La Capricieuse by Elgar, Ivry Gitlis' violin, thanks to his amazing natural ease, rivals with the most beautiful singing. Pyrotechnic trills, stratospheric high notes, throaty accents and dazzling colors, the instrument no longer exists, there remains the music and "a man violin." The disciple follows in the master's footsteps.

Archives:

• - "Les grands interprètes," INA archive by Gérard Herzog, 1962.
• - "Les secrets de l'orchestre," INA archive by Annie Aizieu, 1965.
• - "La rose des vents," INA archive by Claude Deflandre, 1971.