Description

MIKHAIL (MOISEJ) ISAAKOVICH PRESS, ALSO KNOWN AS MICHAEL PRESS (VILNIUS, LITHUANIA, 29 AUGUST, 1871 – LANSING, MICHIGAN, 22 DECEMBER, 1938)

 

 

 

 

Press began studying violin with Tissen at the age of eight in Vilnius, and made his first public appearance at ten years old. At the age of thirteen he was concert master in the Vilna Opera House. For some years he was conductor of the Karatayev Opera Company, travelling all over Russia.

Press entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1897 studying violin with Jan Hřímalý and graduated with a gold medal in 1899. From 1901 to 1904 he was professor at the Philharmonic Society Conservatory in Moscow. Press played in chamber music ensembles and in 1905 organized the Russian Trio, a piano trio which also included his wife Vera Maurina as pianist (graduate of Moscow Conservatory), and his brother Joseph Press (Иосиф Пресс, 1881–1924), a gifted cellist.

From 1915 to 1918, Press taught at the Moscow Conservatory, succeeding Hřímalý as Professor of Violin. He narrowly escaped execution during the Russian Revolution and fled to Germany and Gothenburg, Sweden where he conducted the Gothenburg Symphony for two years.

Press migrated to the United States and made his debut in 1922. He joined the violin faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 1924 and served as Carl Flesch’s assistant for one year. In the 1920s, he was a member of the Old Masters Trio with cellist Leo Schulz. He taught at Michigan State College in East Lansing, Michigan from 1928–1938. During summers of 1935 until 1938, Press was a member of the music faculty at the Bay View Association, Bay View, Michigan, as a teacher, soloist, and chamber musician. Press was also a composer and conductor. He was guest conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Among Press’ students were Vadim Borisovsky, Dorothy DeLay and Mary Canberg.

 

 

 

JACQUES HOFFMANN (MOSTON, 1868 – BOSTON, 18 MARCH, 1938)

 

 

 

 

Jacques Hoffmann was a prominent violinist, conductor, and respected music educator whose career was closely associated with the musical life of Boston.

Hoffmann joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1890, during the directorship of Artur Nikisch, having previously been a member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. He remained with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for more than three decades, resigning in 1926 to devote himself entirely to teaching, chamber music, and conducting activities.

An influential figure in Boston’s chamber music scene, Hoffmann founded and directed the Hoffmann String Quartet, which for many years was regarded as one of the city’s most important chamber ensembles. He also served for an extended period as conductor of the Lincoln House Orchestra, contributing significantly to Boston’s cultural and educational institutions.

Alongside his performing career, Hoffmann was deeply committed to music education. He served on the faculty of Wellesley College and later taught at the Boston University College of Music. At the time of his death, he was also a member of the faculty of the Malkin Conservatory of Music.

Jacques Hoffmann died in Boston on 18 March 1938 at the age of 70, following injuries sustained in a fall at the Malkin Conservatory. He passed away at Beth Israel Hospital.

 

 

 

MAURITS VAN DEN BERG (GRONINGEN, 20 FEBRUARY, 1898 – HILVERSUM, 14 SEPTEMBER, 1971)

 

 

 

 

He studied violin at the conservatories of Groningen and Cologne, completing his soloist examination in 1917. During the 1920s, van den Berg pursued a prominent career in Germany, serving as concertmaster with orchestras in Strasbourg, Elberfeld, and Cologne. He was concertmaster of the Berliner Philharmoniker and, from 1926, of the State Radio Orchestra in Berlin.

In 1935, he returned to the Netherlands, becoming concertmaster of the Arnhem Orchestral Society. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, where he performed as a violinist until the outbreak of the Second World War.

After the war, van den Berg resumed his activities as a solo violinist, appearing both in the Netherlands and abroad. From 1949 to 1963, he was conductor of the Omroep-Kamerorkest, playing an important role in Dutch radio music life during the postwar period.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. Michael Press a) Orientale, b) Le Coucou (Cui) VOX 06096 (NE 021923), (K1924)
2. Michael Press Passacaglia in G Minor, from Harpsichord Suite No. 7 432 (Handel-Halvorsen) with Joseph Press (cello) Block Cylinder C198
3. Michael Press Schwedische Melodie (Wilhelmj) VOX 06096 (NE 021923), (K1924)
4. Imre Pillitz Cavatina in D (Joachim Raff, op.85,3) Odeon 60434
5. Imre Pillitz Scherzo Tarantelle (Wieniawski) Odeon 60436
6. Imre Pillitz Zigeunerweisen (Sarasate) Odeon 60435
7. Jacques Hoffmann Sérénade (Pierné) Victor 17101 B-11746
8. Jacques Hoffmann To a wild rose (MacDowell) Victor 17101 B-11754
9. Maurits Van Den Berg De Vienne Aus Wien (Kreisler) Bruno Seidler-Winkler (piano) Tri-Ergon TE 5054 0918
10. Maurits Van Den Berg Souvenir (Drdla) Bruno Seidler Winkler (piano) Tri-Ergon TE 5054 0919