Lola Violeta Ana-Maria Bobesco (9 August 1921– 4 September 2003) was a Belgian

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist of Romanian origin. She was born in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, and began her career as a child prodigy, giving her first recital there at the age of 6 with her father, composer and conductor Aurel Bobesco. She continued her studies at the Ecole Normale Musique de Paris (1928–1935) with Marcel Chailley (violin), and at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

(1931–1935) with Jules Bucher, where she gained her first prize in 1934, and graduated with the "Prix d'Excellence." She took private violin lessons with George Enescu and Jacques Thibaud. She became known internationally after appearing in Paris (1936) aged 17 with the Colonne Orchestra under the baton of

Paul Paray Paul Marie-Adolphe Charles Paray () (24 May 1886 – 10 October 1979) was a French conductor, organist and composer. He was the resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1952 until 1963. Early life and education Paul Paray was ...

, where she performed a concerto by Romanian composer Stan Golestan. The following year, 1937, she obtained the seventh prize at the

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysaÿe ...

contest. Although established abroad even before the end of World War II, she returned to Romania and regularly appeared in concerts with the Radio Philharmonic in Bucharest, and the provinces in Craiova, Brasov, Iasi, Timișoara. She founded two musical groups in Belgium: in 1958, the

Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie The Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie ( en, Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia) is a Belgian chamber orchestra based in Mons. History The Orchestra was founded in 1958 by the violinist Lola Bobesco and its leadership was entrusted successivel ...

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

; and in 1990, the string quartet L'Arte del Suono in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. She was also a professor at the French-language ''Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles'' and professor of violin at the Conservatory of Liège (1962–1974). She was on the jury of the Queen Elizabeth Competition in 1971 and 1993. She recorded

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

s of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...

and

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

, and also

baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...

including concertos by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

. She also worked with major orchestral ensembles of the world, including: Berlin and London Philharmonics, French orchestra Colonne, Lamoureux and Pas de loup, Concertgebouw Orchestra (Amsterdam), La Suisse Romande (Geneva), and the Orchestra Accademia Santa Cecilia (Rome). At concert and chamber music recitals, she was often accompanied by pianist Jacques Genty. A violinist of exceptional artistic force in spite of her delicate physique, Bobesco balanced technical virtuosity with simplicity and interpretative austerity. Purity of lyrical expression, clear intonation, warm communicative musical phrasing, and originality of conception put her among the top international female performers. She recorded for Decca, Columbia, Les Discophiles Français, Nippon Program Arcophon, and others. She died in

Spa, Belgium Spa (; wa, Spå) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium, whose name became an eponym for mineral baths with supposed curative properties. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountains sout ...

. Her violin was attributed to G.B Guadagnini. The street 'Rue Lola Bobesco' that encircles behind the cultural centre at the Brussels commune of

Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Woluwe-Saint-Lambert () or Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe (Dutch, ) is one of the nineteen municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It is a prosperous residential area, with a mixture of flats and detached, semi-detached and terraced hous ...

, is named after her.

External links

Lola Bobescu partial discography on DiscoGS
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobesco, Lola 1921 births 2003 deaths Belgian classical violinists Romanian emigrants to Belgium People from Craiova Romanian classical violinists Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of Liège 20th-century classical violinists Women classical violinists 20th-century women musicians Women music educators