Description

JONAS (“JOHNNY”) CHITS, PSEUDONYM BORIS LENSKY (HAARLEM, HAARLEM MUNICIPALITY, NOORD-HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS, 7 JULY, 1883 – AMSTERDAM, AMSTERDAM MUNICIPALITY, NOORD-HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS, 31 JANUARY, 1972)

 

 

 

 

Boris Lensky was born in 1883 as John Chits. He grew up in Haarlem, followed classical violin training at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and then studied in Brussels. For a short time he played in the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Willem Mengelberg. Ultimately, however, he chose a career as a violinist in entertainment theaters, under the name Boris Lensky. He played for a while in a theater on London’s Piccadilly Circus and, once back in the Netherlands, became a cinema violinist at the Amsterdam Cinema Palace. With Max Tak, the orchestra leader of the Tuschinski Theater , Lensky became the most popular Amsterdam cinema musician. In 1914 he played the leading role in the short film His violin by Filmfabriek Hollandia. In His Violin, Lensky was a young violinist who played music for the daughter of a forester. When a fire broke out, the girl risked her own life to save his Stradivarius from the flames. On her deathbed, the violinist played her favorite music, the ‘Elegie Hongroise’. Lensky accompanied the film live from the orchestra pit in the cinema. In the late 1910s, Lensky began recording for the English label Columbia. In total he would record dozens of records. When radio emerged in the mid-1920s, Lensky became one of the permanent employees of the AVRO. He was often heard on the radio, in recitals and in the popular program ‘The colorful Tuesday evening train’. After the advent of sound films, which drove most cinema musicians out of cinemas, radio work became his main source of income. Until the Second World War put an end to his radio career: Lensky, who was Jewish, had to go into hiding. After the war he performed for a while as a restaurant pianist.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. Chant d’oiseau (Boris Lensky) Columbia D 8933 51119
2. Czardas (Nicklass-Kempner) Columbia 2273-D F715
3. Droomen (Ehrllch) Boris Lensky Trio Columbia D 9016 R 362
4. Eénmaal nog wil ikje wederzien (Gelger) Columbia D 9060 68950
5. Sonja (Partos) Columbia D 9060 68962
6. Grootmoedertje (Lange) Boris Lensky Trio ColumbiaD 9016 F 126
7. Le plus jolie rêve (Pierre Arezzo) Columbia D 8927 51112
8. Liebestraum nach dem Wals (Alphons Czibulka) Columbia D 8927 51138
9. Monde d’amour (Wood) Columbia D 9908
10. Sérénade Italienne (Boris Lensky) Columbia D 9009 68524
11. Serenata (Toselli) Columbia D 9009 68531
12. Serenata Mignonne (Becce) Columbia 2273-D F723
13. Sing me to sleep (Edward Greene) Columbia D 8933 51142
14. Sint Nicolaasliedjes Columbia D6555 68960