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Tibor Varga was born in 1921 in Györ, Hungary, in the same region that had previously witnessed the birth of Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), Leopold Auer (1845-1930) and Carl Flesch (1873-1944). After being picked out by Jenö Hubay, Tibor Varga was enrolled at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, when only ten years old. On completion of his musical studies at the Academy he devoted himself throughout the war years to studying philosophy at the Budapest University. In 1947 he set himself up in London ; since 1956 he has lived at Sion in Switzerland. He was six years old when he made his first public appearance. At ten, he took on his first solo role with an orchestra, giving his interpretation of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor op. 64. In 1934, he made his first recordings, and at fourteen he took on his first concert tours taking him all around Europe and later all over the world. At the same time he was making recordings for EMI, Columbia, Deutsche Grammophon and other distinguished labels. He developed his style under the baton of renowned conductors such as Ansermet, Bernstein, Böhm, Boulez, Fricsay, Furtwängler, Markevitch, Solti and others. Tibor Varga's performances of the Violin Concertos by Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky have become major reference points for future interpreters. His Bach and Mozart are a model of strength and self assurance. Tibor Varga is "by choice an interpreter of Mozart's violin music, but also a conductor who flirts marvellously with the charms of the symphonies of the master of Salzburg" (Répertoire des disques compacts, Paris). "In the work of J. S. Bach Varga has reached the pinnacle of the interpreter's art. He is able to communicate with heartfelt humanism the entirety of the composer's message in its full breadth and with all its spiritual richness" (Arts in Documents, Tokyo). As early as the 1950s, Tibor Varga's art had been lauded as "the result of artistic endeavour" which "laying aside the need to impress seeks out the pure values of expression in each work" (Frankfurter Allgemeine, Germany). "Tibor Varga's achievements as a virtuoso are admirable, but his contribution to creative interpretation is without doubt unique" (Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany). Nevertheless, Tibor Varga, "one of the greatest violinists of any time" (Musica, Rome), is considered to be the creator of a new style for the violin. "With Varga a new way of violin playing is born: the purity of melodic line, this absolute accuracy of pitch, the expressive perfection of a playing literally sheathed in flawless phrasing, where everything is at once reflective yet supremely natural" (Le Monde de la Musique, Paris). Today, as numerous critics will testify, Tibor Varga may be considered as a pivotal figure in 20th century music. In particular, his interpretations and recordings of Bartok, Berg and Schönberg have raised these works to the status of "classics" of the repertoire and given them a prime position in European musical life. At the European premiere of his Violin Concerto, Schönberg himself paid tribute to his enthusiasm and thanked him for the "superb interpretation" of his work. The composer wrote the following to him in a letter from Los Angeles dated 27 June 1951 : "Your performance resonates as if you had known the work for 25 years. Your whole interpretation is mature, expressive, marvellous. I can assure you, he continued, that I have never heard a performance which so precisely reflected my intentions in every detail. I would like to be younger to write more music of this order for you." From the beginning of the 1960s, Tibor Varga has enjoyed equal success as a conductor. A natural communicator, he is able to stamp each orchestra with his individual spirit and quality of sound. Moreover, he demonstrates his boundless creative energy in yet more fields of music : at the beginning of the 1940s he devoted his time to the academy of music which was founded in his home town in Hungary and of which he was the first professor. Later he was to have a formative influence on the international renown of the Detmold High School of Music (BRD) where he taught from 1949 to 1986. Charged to establish at the Detmold High School of Music a String Department, for which he was asked to become the head, Tibor Varga created with the violoncellist André Navarra, the violist Bruno Giuranna, and later with the violist Nobuko Imai a string school of world renown. Tibor Varga's school produced numerous soloists and musicians who are disseminated throughout the most prestigious orchestras of the world today, from the Berlin Philharmonic to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In 1956 Tibor Varga founded a chamber orchestra in Detmold bearing his name. This ensemble has enriched several decades of German musical life. Since the summer of 1964 the internationally recognised Festival Tibor Varga at Sion in Switzerland has brought together artists of world renown. Since 1963 a summer school has given young musicians from around the world the opportunity to complete their development amongst well known artists and teachers. The International Violin Competition Tibor Varga, established in 1967, is today consid |