Ivry Gitlis

Ivry Gitlis 25 August 1922 24 December 2020 was an Israeli virtuoso violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador He performed with the worlds top orchestras including the London Philharmonic New York Philharmonic Berlin Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic Philadelphia Orchestra and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra YitzhakMeir Isaac Gitlis was born on 25 August 1922 in Haifa Israel to Jewish parents who emigrated in 1921 from KamianetsPodilskyi Ukraine Gitlis acquired his first violin when he was five years old and started lessons under Mme Velikovsky together with his friend Zvi Zeitlin He then studied privately with Mira BenAmi a pupil of Joseph Szigeti When he was eight she arranged for him to play for Bronis?aw Huberman which prompted a fundraising campaign to allow him to study in France In 1933 he arrived with his mother in Paris and started to take lessons with Marcel Chailley husband of the pianist Céliny ChailleyRichez Being very close to their family he was introduced to George Enescu and Jacques Thibaud In that period he decided to change his birth name Isaac to Ivry At 11 Gitlis Jitlis entered the Conservatoire de Paris in the class of Jules Boucherit and graduated in 1935 In 19381940 his teachers included George Enescu and Jacques Thibaud in Paris and Carl Flesch in Spa Belgium and later in London In 1940 during World War II he went to London where he first worked for two years in a war factory and was then assigned to the artists branch of the British Army He gave numerous concerts for the Allied soldiers and in war factories After the war he made his successful debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and subsequently played with the BBC and all other principal orchestras of Great Britain In 1951 as suggested by his teacher Alice Pashkus he participated in the LongThibaud Competition in Paris where he took fifth place During the preliminary stages of the competition a rumor circulated that he had stolen a Stradivarius violin during the war which caused a scandal on the day of the final Six years after the fall of Hitler being a Jew in France was still causing debate In the same year Gitlis made his debut in Paris playing in a recital at the Salle Gaveau sponsored by the music manager Marcel de Valmalète 9 July 1951 In the 1950s he moved to the United States where he met Jascha Heifetz There he made several tours managed by Sol Hurok including those conducted by Eugene Ormandy Tchaikovsky in Philadelphia and George Szell Sibelius on 1516 and 18 December 1955 in New York Back in Europe between 1954 and 1955 he recorded for the Vox label concertos by Berg Violin Concerto To the memory of an angel coupled with Chamber Concerto Vox PL 8660 which was awarded a Grand Prix du Disque in 1954 Tchaikovsky Mendelssohn Stravinsky Violin Concerto coupled with Duo Concertant and with the conductor Jascha Horenstein Bartók Bruch and Sibelius His recording of Bartóks 2nd Violin Concerto and Solo Violin Sonata Vox PL 9020 received the Best Record of the Year award from the New York Herald Tribune in 1955 Source Article Ivry Gitlis from Wikipedia in english licensed under CCBYSA 30