Fritz Kreisler

Debussy’s Violin Sonata: Karisa Chiu and Zhu Wang

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27-year-old American violinist Karisa Chiu has been awarded the Gold Medal at the 2026 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Born into a musical family, Chiu began to study the violin at the age of two with her father, Cornelius Chiu, a member of the first violin section of the Chicago Symphony. She came to international prominence with her first prize win at the 2021 Isangyun Violin Competition. Released in September of 2025, …

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“Polichinelle”: A Fritz Kreisler Miniature

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Derived from the Italian “Pulcinella,” Polichinelle is a French puppet character. A staple of French street theater since the late 1500s, he is known to be a vulgar prankster. There is no vulgarity in Fritz Kreisler’s charming miniature for violin and piano, Polichinelle—only an undercurrent of scherzando mischief. Kreisler (1875-1962) wrote the piece, subtitled “Serenade,” in the United States in 1917. It comes two years before the Broadway opening of his operetta, …

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Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Golden Cockerel”: Excerpts from a Dark Fairytale Opera

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Completed in 1907, The Golden Cockerel was the last opera of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Based on an 1834 poem by Alexander Pushkin, its fairytale plot unfolds over three acts, bookended by a prologue and epilogue. The story involves the bumbling Tsar Dodon. “Advised by an Astrologer, Dodon uses a magical cockerel (a young male rooster) to warn of threats, but his incompetence leads to his sons’ deaths and his infatuation with the treacherous …

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David Oistrakh in Recital

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Warmth, sincerity, and nobility are words which have been used to describe the artistry of the Soviet Russian violinist, David Oistrakh (1908-1974). My teacher, Oleh Krysa, who was a student of Oistrakh, commented that “In his playing there had never been any pointedness of expression or surgery sentimentalism, there had never been a trace of affectation aimed at winning over the public.” (The Way They Play, Book 14) Instead, Krysa found that …

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Remembering Norman Carol

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Norman Carol, the legendary American violinist and concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1966 to 1994, passed away on April 28 in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. He was 95. Born in Philadelphia to Russian immigrant parents, Carol began playing the violin at age six, and performed his first concert at nine. Following initial studies with Sascha Jacobinoff, he entered the Curtis Institute of Music at 13, where he was a student of Efrem Zimbalist. …

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1938 Recording: Manuel de Falla’s “Spanish Dance No. 1,” Fritz Kreisler

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Manuel de Falla’s 1913 two act opera, La vida breve (“Life is Short”), is rarely performed today. Set in Granada, it tells the story of a young gypsy girl, Salud, who falls in love with the wealthy and seductive Paco. Despite their vow of eternal love, Paco abandons Salud to marry a woman of his own social class to whom he was already engaged. At the end of Paco’s wedding reception, he denies knowing Salud …

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“Berceuse Romantique”: Kreisler’s Journey into Impressionism

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The legendary violinist Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) composed numerous short pieces “in the style” of earlier composers. Kreisler performed these works as encores at his concerts and successfully passed them off as originals (discovered in some dusty corner of a French monastery) until the hoax was uncovered in 1935. In addition to these clever exercises in pastiche, Kreisler wrote cadenzas for many of the standard violin concertos, four operettas, and popular songs such as Madly …

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