Description

FRANZ VON VECSEY (BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, 23 MARCH, 1893 – ROME, ITALY, 5 APRIL, 1935)

 

 

 

 

He was born in Budapest and began his violin studies with his father, Lajos Vecsey. At the age of 8 he entered the studio of Jenő Hubay. Two years later, aged 10, he played for Joseph Joachim in Berlin (making his début at “Beethoven Halle” on 17 May 1903) and subsequently became known as a stellar child prodigy virtuoso. He became one of the pre-eminent violinists in Europe in the 1910s and 1920s, at one point touring with Béla Bartók as his piano accompanist. Aged only 12, he became the re-dedicatee of Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor in 1905, when the original dedicatee, Willy Burmester, refused to play the work after he was unable to appear at the premiere of the revised version, which was premiered by Karel Halíř instead. Vecsey championed the Sibelius concerto, first performing it when he was only 13. He was also the dedicatee of Hubay’s Violin Concerto No.3. He also spent time composing, and wrote a number of virtuosic salon pieces for the violin. From 1926 till his untimely death, he lived with his wife in Venice, at “Palazzo Giustinian de’ Vescovi” on Canal Grande. His career steadily faltered after the First World War, as he grew tired of constant touring and wanted to concentrate more on conducting. By the 1930s, he was about to embark on that dream, but it suddenly curtailed in 1935, when he became seriously ill with a pulmonary embolism that grew through much of his life. He sought medical care in Rome, where he received surgery. The operation was unsuccessful, and Vecsey succumbed to the disease at the age of 42.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. Ave Maria (Schubert-Wilhelmj) Vox 1152AA 06332 E
2. Canzonetta, Op. 43, No. 3 (Palmgren) Guido Agosti (piano) Polydor 10686-A gr 5737 gr VIII
3. Caprice No. 13 (Paganini) Guido Agosti (piano) Polydor 10333 gr 5733 gr VIII
4. Carmen (Bizet arr. Hubay) Habanera 47956 5448b G&T 15- 7-04
5. Cascade Caprice No. 2 (Vecsey) Guido Agosti (piano) Polydor 62716-A
6. En bateau (Debussy) Guido Agosti (piano) Polydor 10306 gr 5736 gr VIII
7. Grave (Kreisler) Vox 1154AA 06378
8. Maria Wiegenlied, op. 76, no. 52 (Reger) Guido Agosti (piano) Polydor 10413 gr 5744 gr VIII
9. Nocturne, op. 51, no. 3 (Sibelius) Guido Agosti (piano) Polydor 10686gr 5747 gr VIII
10. Präludium und Allegro (Pugnani-Kreisler) Vox 1153AA 06378
11. Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-flat major, op. 12, no. 3

Allegro con spirito

Adagio con molto espressione

Rondo Allegro molto

Guido Agosti (piano)

Polydor

62717, 62717, 62718, 62718, 62719, 62719

gr 5738 gr VIII, gr 5739 gr VIII, gr 5740 gr VIII, gr 5741 gr VIII, gr 5742 gr VIII

1934-11-24

12. Träumerei (Schumann) Vox 1151AA 06332 E