Ivry Gitlis, born in Haifa on August 22, 1922, is often referred to as “the great free spirit” among the violin virtuosi of the 20th...

Ivry Gitlis, born in Haifa on August 22, 1922, is often referred to as “the great free spirit” among the violin virtuosi of the 20th century; and by that is meant both the selection of his repertoire and his general interpretation. The first signs of this had already been noticed by the great Bronislaw Huberman, who heard the 10-year-old and recommended him to the Paris Conservatoire. Just three years later, Gitlis won first prize there. In the following years his talent was brought out by, among others, Carl Flesch, Jacques Thibaud and George Enescu. His incipient career was interrupted by the Second World War, which Gitlis spent in England – firstly as a worker in a munitions factory, then later as a pianist at numerous concerts put on for allied soldiers. His concert programmes were often challenging for the audience – among them the latest musical creations of Bruno Maderna and Yannis Xenakis, seldom-heard compositions by Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravinsky and Ernest Bloch, and Bela Bartok's last completed work – his Sonata for Solo Violin. Nevertheless, when Gitlis plays the great concertos whose timeless worth still dominates today's concert programmes, his own, sometimes idiosyncratic interpretation is audible, challenging the listener to more intensive engagement with that which is already well-known.