Joseph Gingold plays Chopin Mazurka

This is Joseph Gingold, perhaps you may have heard of him? He was my violin teacher's teacher and from what I hear, a wonderful man in general. I'm not sure if many people have actually heard him play so here you go :)

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[orjus]

He may have been a good teacher ,but this transcription

is pointless if not lack of musical taste ...

[aimson]

Why do you say that? I find it hard to believe that a man extoled for his incredible musicianship (e.g. first chair 2nd violins in Toscanini's orchestra in 1948) fails to play with musical taste.

[jaschenski as was]

Thanks ever so much for posting - those who have the Biddulph 2-disc set of the Primrose Quartet will recognise his glowing tone as 2nd violin, well-matched to Oscar Shumsky's, when they all played in Toscanini's NBC Symphony.

And the orchestral excerpts!

[aimson]

Glad you enjoyed it! Just to add on to your comment, Gingold was chosen to be principle 2nd violinist in the Toscanini orchestra because of his outstanding musicianship. He might not have had great technique but as a musician I believe he was one of the finest in the world.

[camaysar222]

Josef Gingold taught for decades at Indiana, until his death in 1995. As a result, sores of young musicians got to experience a taste of the Golden Age through his rich and stylish playing. He used to tell very amusing stories about lessons with his fearsome teacher Leopold Auer. He was warm, gracious, and loved by all who knew him. Thanks for this post!

[123mortimer]

aimson - it's not worth replying to these kinds of stupid attacks. They merely reveal the attacker's ignorance. Thank you so much for posting this wonderful clip. I had never heard Gingold actually play. What a wonderful musician. And what a rich - and now lost - culture expresses itself through his playing!

[idiotnumber8]

Being a verbal critic is next thing to breathing in ease. DOING better or anything comparable is another matter. (And so goes the internet.)

Gingold was a great violinist, with profound humility and heart.

[idiotnumber8]

Being a verbal critic is the easiest thing in the world---next to breathing---unless one can DO something better---as Gingold did, with grace and "heart," so singularly, humbly, and beautifully. (And that's why the internet is becoming such a nasty medium.)

[Omanda93]

my teacher is a student of Josef Gingold :) i wish i knew him

he seems like such a sweet man

[Daniel Kurganov]

you must think kreisler also has no musical taste playing this piece. then you know nothing of musical taste, sir. sorry to be the one to tell you

[dziady1]

He is a salon player -by the time he reaches the 8th. bar he has fiddle plays

the work-he has no concept of what a mazurka is about .Gingold may have been a wonderful person , but the subject is his playing this work and making it

a second rate violin work of sorts .

[gnatural]

you have no idea what you are talking about. with all due respect.

[Julia Rebekka Adler]

This is so nice. It's that old way of playing.

[Vanessa Richard]

I can also tell where Joshua Bell got his "sound" from. :) Josef Gingold was one heck of a teacher...he's up in Heaven somewhere smiling.

[Vanessa Richard]

Wow, he's amazing. :)

[Allaln Kohrman]

George Szell chose Josefs Gingold to be concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra shortly after being named musical director of the Cleveland Orchestra. Gingold helped Szell a great deal in leading the orchestra to its pre-eminence. I heard him play many times and wished he had stayed a while longer.