Mischa Elman

Mischa Elman was a Russian and American violinist of Jewish origin. He was born into a musical Jewish family in Talnoye, Kiev Governorate. His grandfather, Yossele Elman, was a well-known klezmer violinist who gave him his first violin when he was four years old, and his father, Saul Elman, was a melamed and amateur violinist. In 1893 the family moved to Shpola. Elman began studying the violin at the age of four, first with his father and later in Odessa with Alexander (Ruvim) Fidelman, a pupil of Adolf Brodsky.

In 1901, Leopold Auer heard the young Elman play and invited him to study at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Three years later, after a concert in Berlin, Elman's name became internationally known. His brilliant appearances in London and New York in 1908 led critics to speak of him as one of the most gifted musicians of his time.

In 1911 Elman moved to the United States, although he did not take American citizenship until 1923. After several years of concerts and touring, he became seriously interested in chamber music and founded the Elman String Quartet, which soon achieved considerable fame. Returning to an active solo concert career in 1936, he presented at Carnegie Hall a cycle of five concerts titled “Development of Violin Literature.”

Elman also made a large number of recordings that enjoyed great success. In 1958, his impresario Sol Hurok proposed to the USSR Ministry of Culture that Elman should tour the Soviet Union, but the authorities considered inviting the “emigrant” politically inexpedient.

He was the author of the memoir The Father, published in the United States in 1933. Elman's playing was noted for its rich and expressive tone, as well as the brightness and vitality of his interpretations. His performing technique differed somewhat from the standards of his time: he often chose slower tempos than expected and made wide use of rubato, but this did not lessen his popularity.

Elman also wrote a number of short pieces and arrangements for violin. He died in New York, New York, in 1967.