Czestochowa, Poland, 1882 — Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, 1947

 

Violinist

 

One of the most important violinists of the 20th century. A prodigal child, he learned to play at the age of six and before long was performing in public. At ten he went to Berlin to study further. He played a Stradivarius which was placed at his disposal by his Maecenas, Count Jan Zamoyski. To him, playing the violin was always part of the struggle for a better world. Like Zweig, he defended the idea of a single, united Europe, but unlike him was an enthusiastic Zionist. In a famous letter dated June 1933 in answer to an invitation by Wilhelm Furtwängler to play with the Berlin Philharmonic, he replied: “...this is not about violin concertos or Jews; the question is maintaining things our parents achieved with blood and sacrifice, the most elementary preconditions of our European culture, individual freedom and one’s unconditional responsibility, without hindrance from the chains of caste or race.” In 1935, he founded the Palestine Orchestra, now the celebrated Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Few records have survived of his relationship with Zweig. One of them is a letter from 1934, when they were probably brought together by Gisella Selden-Goth, Zweig’s great friend, who was always involved with music and original scores.

 

Huberman’s violin, which was made in 1713 by Antonio Stradivari, was stolen in 1936 from a dressing room at Carnegie Hall. The thief kept the violin until his death, only to confess the robbery on his deathbed in 1985. Today the instrument belongs to Joshua Bell, who acquired it in 2001.

 

Address listed: Neldisset(?) Farms, Old White Plains Road, Mamaroneck, N.Y. Tel. Mamaroneck 63