From Publishers Weekly
Violinist Zoltan Szekely, now 90, has lived through nearly a century of musical history. Beginning as a concert violinist in his native Hungary, he quickly became widely known in Europe. He commissioned Bela Bartok's much-loved Violin Concerto (actually his second; the composer refused to acknowledge his first) and was a founding member and leader of the Hungarian String Quartet, widely admired in Europe for 35 years for its playing of Bartok and Beethoven (the group gave the first performance of Bartok's fifth and commissioned his sixth, quartets). Szekely, married to a Dutch woman, was trapped by the Nazis in Holland during the war, later had to rebuild his, and the quartet's, career. After it disbanded in 1972, he ended up comfortably ensconced as a teacher at the Banff Center in Canada. Canadian cellist/professor Kenneson tells his story thoroughly, but with a wealth of often superfluous detail and a lack of inflection. The title is also somewhat misleading. Bartok certainly figures; there are previously unpublished letters by him and interesting glimpses of him at work, but the book is mostly about Szekely and the quartet, and therefore of comparatively limited general interest. Discography and photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This fascinating book chronicles the life and times of Zoltan Szekely, the internationally renowned violinist who is perhaps best known as leader of the Hungarian String Quartet, one of the most durable and oft-recorded ensembles of the century. Kenneson (Bibliography of Cello Ensemple Music, Harmonie Park, 1974) has constructed a marvelously detailed picture of life in the musical circles of Europe before, during, and after World War II, with particular attention paid to the touching relationship between Szekely and composer Bela Bartok. Bartok dedicated his Violin Concerto to Szekely, who premiered it in 1939 to general acclaim. Especially moving is the account of Szekely's (and the quartet's) struggle for survival during the war in Occupied Holland. The title of this book is somewhat misleading, however, since about a third of the material concerns Szekely's career after Bartok's death in 1945. There is much new material here in the form of letters and concert reviews that will interest scholars and lay readers alike. Recommended for all libraries with collections on 20th-century music.?Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
