Oscar Shumsky plays Brahms Violin Concerto

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

American violinist Oscar Shumsky has been hailed as one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. Leopold Stokowski called him “the most astounding genius I have ever heard.”

This recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 is the last recording Shumsky ever made.

Made in 1984 with the Philharmonia Hungarica with Uri Segal conducting, when the violinist was 71 years old, this complete performance digital recording just released by BIDDULPH RECORDINGS had remained forgotten for over three decades.

Noble, elegant, devoid of the dash and flash so prevalent these days, Shumsky’s music-making is impassioned but never overdoing the emotion, playing with a warm heart and a cool brain.

His is a performance that belongs to a grand old era no longer with us.

Rafael de Acha        ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”