Fritz Kreisler : Love's Sorrow, Love's Joy [Hardcover]

Amy Biancolli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003

Violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler has been described as "the last, best ambassador of 19th-century Vienna to a 20th-century world." A prodigy with no formal instruction on the violin after the age of 12, he brought to the musical stage a warmth that made him a uniquely beloved celebrity.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this post-Heifetz age, in which virtuoso violin playing is identified with perfection of execution, it is difficult to comprehend that within living memory the reigning king of violinists was a man who detested practice, loved to drink and gamble, was benignly casual about the truth when it suited him--sometimes passing off his own music as the obscure work of little-known 18th- and 19th-century composers, or embellishing anecdotes--and felt that too-precise execution of a musical work robbed it of its soul. Indeed, this would seem to be the profile of some legendary jazz player, not a giant of the classical repertory. Yet Fritz Kreisler--a onetime piano prodigy whose first career sputtered out after he lost the novelty of youth--as an adult dominated the practice of the violin during the years between the two world wars. His expressive and emotional style of playing enabled him to make contact with audiences in a way that earlier masters of the 19th century could not. Sadly, as related here by Amy Biancolli, the public remembers Kreisler today more for his pleasing violin compositions than his influence on performance technique, even if some of the greater violinists know better.

This well-written, positive biography is intended to remedy that neglect. It puts Kreisler's place in history and his importance in terms of performance practice into greater perspective. Though she is not entirely able to put the reader emotionally in touch with the vanished milieu of imperial Vienna, Biancolli does provide a well-rounded, late-20th-century perspective on the career of the great violinist, and includes an excellent discography to help the reader become better acquainted with the performances of this likable figure. --Sarah Bryan Miller

From Publishers Weekly

Kreisler (1875-1962) is probably better known today as the composer of a handful of ineffably charming little violin pieces than as the towering virtuoso he was in the first half of the century. The emerging recording industry made him one of the most admired and popular violinists of his day and, until a nearly fatal street accident in 1941 that began his gradual decline, colleagues and public alike thought his golden tone and liquid phrasing supreme. Biancolli's biography, the first since the standard by Kreisler's friend Louis Lochner, is a notably sympathetic and well-researched one?and it has the inestimable advantage that Kreisler's wife, the domineering Harriet, who had absolute veto power over Lochner's book, is no longer around. Many people therefore have their say about her, concluding that though she indeed made life difficult for the charming but essentially lazy and diffident Kreisler, she did keep his career firmly in order. Kreisler was a legendary figure, representative of the last days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: he tried, unsuccessfully, for an early virtuoso career, served as an Austrian officer during WWI, and, though he was at least half-Jewish, he presented himself as a lapsed Catholic. Biancolli, music critic for the Albany Times Union, has done a scrupulous job of examining the reality and many legends around him and also his impact. Although he was eventually eclipsed by the cold perfectionism of Jascha Heifetz, who became the chief influence on the current generation of violinists, there were many, like Nathan Milstein, Yehudi Menuhin and David Oistrakh for whom Kreisler represented, as Isaac Stern wrote, "the unashamed enjoyment of being moved by the music." Pictures, discography.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 460 pages
• Publisher: Amadeus Press (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574670379
• ISBN-13: 978-1574670370
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,388,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fritz Kreisler: Love's Sorrow, Love's Joy, June 5, 2010

By 

B. Heller (Schenectady, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fritz Kreisler : Love's Sorrow, Love's Joy (Hardcover)

A very fine biography of the life and the times of Fritz Kreisler, a violinist and a composer, perhaps the last composer violinist in our times. And not only
does this book go into the artistic life of Kreisler, but also the times in which he lived. It was end of the era of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, a strange conglomeration of political and military patchwork, and a place that has been romanticized way beyond the facts showing its deep faults. But Kreisler was an
outstanding violinist, although he did not command the technique that was established by Heifetz, and is now part of the standards for aspiring violinists.
Once those standards are seen as possible, then all young fiddlers realize they must make use of them. But Kreisler was a composer, with splendid little compositions, albeit he was a very modest man. He served as an officer in the Austrian army during WWI and there were many who held that against him when he resumed his musical career. And then there is his relationship with the Nazi government, a regime that he did not respect or support in any way.
This book is very well written and is certainly a very good read. Hurray!!!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reading, October 20, 2004

By 

Bousakov "houman15" (CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fritz Kreisler : Love's Sorrow, Love's Joy (Hardcover)

It's a very comprehensive book which makes you feel that you can almost take Kreisler's pulse through the important parts of his life.

It really characterizes kreisler well and thoroughly and mentions in adequate detail about his wife and others.

What bothered me was that many points were repeated too many times. It seemed like the same commentary was made about merely different sets of quotations.

Overall and absolutely excellent and must read book.

0 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars delivery, June 19, 2010

By 

M. H. Vellekoop - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fritz Kreisler : Love's Sorrow, Love's Joy (Hardcover)

The US dealer of my purchase, friendsoftopekashawneecountry, delivers only in the USA. Fortunately I have relatives in the USA and the parcel arrived there in good condition. It was sent by US postal services to my address in Holland, from Baltimore MD to New York and from NY to Abu Dhabi!! I keep you posted as to it will ever arrive in Holland!

Sincerely, Tijn Vellekoop, Gouda, Holland