Michel Schwalbé (27 October 1919 – 8 October 2012
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Biography
Born in Radom (Poland), Schwalbé studied in his youth with Moritz Frenkel, then continued his studies in Paris and worked with Georges Enesco, Pierre Monteux
Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in ...
and Jules Boucherit. He took French citizenship at that time. Then came the war, and Schwalbé being Jewish, fled France in 1942 and settled in Switzerland. He became Solo (music), soloist of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva from 1944 to 1946, then in Lausanne until 1957, when Herbert von Karajan offered him a solo violin position at the Berlin Philharmonic. During his Swiss period, Schwalbé created his own quartet and succeeded Joseph Szigeti at the Conservatoire de musique de Genève.
Schwalbé died in Berlin on 8 October 2012.
Notable recordings
* Vivaldi's ''The Four Seasons (Vivaldi), The Four Seasons'', Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, 1972, Deutsche Grammophon
* Richard Strauss' ''Also sprach Zarathustra (Strauss), Also Sprach Zarathustra'', Op.30; Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, 1974, Deutsche Grammophon
References
External links
*
Tabellarischer Lebenslauf
klassik-heute.de
''Des Meisters erste Geige''
tagesspiegel.de, 26 October 2009
Nachruf in der Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, FAZ, 11 October 2012
Michel Schwalbé, musicien français, violoniste berlinois
''Le Monde'' (18 October 2012)
Michel Schwalbé's obituary
(''The Daily Telegraph'')
Michel Schwalbé's obituary
(''The Guardian'')
Discography
(Discogs)
Michel Schwalbé - Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor (1961)
(YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwalbe, Michel
Polish classical violinists
20th-century French male classical violinists
Jewish classical violinists
20th-century Polish Jews
Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Recipients of the Order of Leopold II
Knights of the Legion of Honour
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
1919 births
People from Radom
2012 deaths