JAVS Spring 1985

One of the vtola ptoneers was Jose Bonflg11oli, born In 1851 1n Bologna. He 1mm1grated to Argent1na at the ,oeg1nnlng of the century, and was the first soloist of his period, perform~g as principal violist of the Teatro Colon. He had a Stradivarius viola, which is kept today in the Theater Museum. Bruno Banotnt, born in Faenza, Italy, In 1889 15 the first outstendtnq.vtoltst trained in Argentina by Italian teachers. At the age of seventeen he joined the Orchestra of the Opera . (conducted by Toscanlni) and in 1909he offered the first recital for viola as a solo instrument in Argentina. He was responsible for training many violists and was a member, since its creation in 1914, of one of the first string quartets in Buenos Aires, the Asociaci6'n Wagneriana Quartet. Franclsco Steck,a Belglan who arrived in 1911, was principal violist with the COrdoba Symphony Orchestra and also taught ln that city. Shortly before the Second WorJd War broke out, Argentina saw the arrival of some of the most important personalities who were to give a decisive impetus to the development of the viola in Argentina. Some of these were Ernesto Blum, still prtnctpat viola wlth the National Sy~phony Orchestra; Cayetano Molo, born in Argentina and a viola c'arnore pioneer; Aldo Glovanjnnl, Italian violist who arrived in 1948, settled in rucum'n and occupied the

Tbe Viola in Argentina by / Tomas T1chauer

The BegInnIngs

Al~hough vtsttlnq European· artlsts were already givlng concerts dur1ng 19th century Argentina, lt was not until the' creation of the Teatro Colon at the beginning of the 20th century that an indigenous rnustcal movement began to grow. that time, the European (particularly French and Italian), taste of the period exerted a significant influence due to the opera companies which came to the Rfo de la Plata from the old country. But by the beginning of this century, the first instrumentalists began to arrive from Italy and Spain, and by the thirties, as World War II approached, many musicians immigrated to Argent1na, malnly from these two countries, but .also from Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Russla and Yugoslavla. These were the musrctans who trained the present generation of Argentlne teachers to which I belong. And to them we 'owe the formative work on Argent ina's first orchestras and 1nstrumental groups. Untll

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