JAVS Fall 1997

44

She was an excellent pianist, very calm and patient. Tibor's studio was like a large living room with a grand piano, overstuffed furni ture, throw rugs, high ceiling. He would occasionally demonstrate how he perceived a passage should be played and when he fin ished a phrase playing upbow, he would let his bow fly through the air and land on the closed piano. It never broke, by the way! He was not then a great violist but his interpreta tion of Bartok was terrific." With the performance and recording, Fisch's involvement with the Bartok Viola Concerto was complete. Apart from occasion ally playing through the work in his private practice, he never performed it again nor used it in an audition. Furthermore, he has not until this day ever heard the work live or on record performed by anyone else. He has also never seen a printed part. As such he is the only performer of this work who has not been influenced by William Primrose, even sub consciously, in his concept of the work. "I never bought a recording, otherwise I would have compared and found the differ ences. If I wanted to play it again I would do "One of the reasons I moved from New York City was to get out of the rat race, the crime, the smog, the heat, and the traffic. We lived in San Diego for two years, where my wife was a professor and taught student teach ers in the Education Department. After two years we decided that even San Diego was too much hustle and bustle for us-we wanted a peaceful life. We bought ten acres of bare land in Fallbrook [San Diego County], had a house built there, and planted a thousand avocado trees. I took care of the trees myself, and it was a very difficult job. Israel was experimenting with drip irrigation at that time, and I decided to experiment on these avocados myself. Each summer for six or seven years I attended a six week course at avocado school. They talked about fertilizing usc UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF MUSIC UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA my own version with my own music and play it better and more musical as I am older and more mature than in 1948." Mter ten years with the CBS orchestra and a further ten years playing for recordings for movies, transcriptions and jingles, and in a number of orchestras, Fisch moved out west to California to live near family members.

VIOLA FACULTY Pamela Goldsmith Donald Mcinnes Evan Wilson

For further information, contact: USC School ofMusic Los Angeles, Ca 90089-0851 (800)872-2213 e-mail: uscmusic@usc.edu

Degrees offered: BM, MM, DMA Advanced Studies Certificate

www.usc.edu