Ivry Gitlis, virtuoso without borders
Violinist Ivry Gitlis died at the age of 98, in Paris.
Thomas Samson AFP / Archivos
Text by: Olivier Favier
5 mins
Ivry Giltis was one of the greatest violinists of the twentieth century and the last legend of his generation.
He passed away on December 24 in the morning in Paris, at the age of 98.
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Originally from Kamenets-Podolski, a small town in southern Ukraine, long coveted by Poland and Russia, Ivry Gitlis' parents met when they left for Palestine, where he was born in Haifa in 1922. The family is modest.
His father, a mason, would become a miller.
She is not one of those who impose an artistic destiny.
But Ivry Gitlis is a unique and pampered child, and faced with his insistence on obtaining a violin, which he manifests at the age of four, the family is joining together to fulfill this precocious and inexplicable vocation.
He himself will never know how to determine its origin.
A child prodigy
He started playing the violin at the age of six and gave his first concert the following year.
He was quickly spotted by Bronisław Huberman, future founder of the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra and also a former child prodigy, who encouraged him to leave for Europe.
He arrived in Marseille at the age of ten, after a grueling journey in fourth class.
He made a brief stint at the Paris Conservatory, a mixed experience that was interrupted a year and a half later, after he won the first prize.
In London, he worked with Carl Flesch and was taught by a genius composer and renowned violin virtuoso, Georges Enesco.
During the war, he performed in front of the British army and thus enjoyed his first successes.
When peace came, he joined the prestigious London Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded for the
BBC
.
He returned to France in 1951, where another setback awaited him.
In the Long-Thibaud competition, where he was given the favorite, he only obtained a modest fifth place, against the public's opinion.
He is accused of stealing a Stradivarius during the war.
International and eclectic
Never mind, we welcome him with open arms across the Atlantic, where his intense game is appreciated and earned him the praise of Jascha Heifetz, a former child prodigy, also from the Ashkenazi diaspora.
In 1955, he was the first Israeli musician to perform in the USSR.
He remains the best performer among many other unforgettable recordings of Bela Bartók's Sonata for Solo Violin and
Alban Berg's
Concerto in Memory of an Angel
.
In 1966, he finally acquired a Stradivarius dated 1713 called “Sancy”, which he would take, according to his own admission, a year and a half to master.
► (Re) listen: In G major: Ivry Giltis
Irreplaceable performer of certain masters of his time, such as Bruno Maderna and Iannis Xenakis, he did not hesitate to make forays with more popular musicians, such as Léo Ferré or Stéphane Grapelli, also embracing from time to time the acting career. .
He notably plays the role of the hypnotist in
The Story of Adele H
(1975) by François Truffaut and the most anticipated role of a violinist in
Un amour de Swann
(1984) by Völker Schlöndorff.
It is also with a film actress, the German Sabine Glaser, that he will have three of his four children.
Two of them will become members of the nu metal band Enhancer.
Music as sharing
Founder of many festivals (including those of Vence and Menton), Ivry Gitlis remains linked to France - he has dual Franco-Israeli nationality.
He was one of the regular guests of Jacques Chancel's program “Le Grand Échiquier” in the 1980s. This public life, which led him to take the title of Unesco Goodwill Ambassador in 1990, is guided by the constant desire to share her love of music.
This is how he became the godfather in 2008 of the association “inspiration (s)” in 2008 whose goal is to make music accessible to all.
The following year, Arte devoted the documentary
Ivry Gitlis to him, the violin without borders
.
In all, Ivry Gitliis will have played the violin for more than 98 years, having only stopped during his last months of life.
His genius, his eclecticism, his openness to others and his longevity combine to make him a true musical legend of the twentieth century, just like the great composers he has been able to magnify.
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In G major
Ivry Giltis