JAVS Spring 2011

I N M EMORIAM

Rudolf Barshai 1924–2010

Born on September 28, 1924, in Labinskaya (now Labinsk), Russia, Rudolf Barshai entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1938 as a violin pupil of Lev Zeitlin. Hoping to form a string quartet, Barshai switched to viola studies with Vadim Borissovsky and helped form the Moscow Philharmonic Quartet (now the Borodin Quartet) in 1945 while still a student. Barshai became friendly with his composition teacher, Dimitri Shostakovich, who coached and performed with the quartet. Barshai branched out into diverse musical activities, including performing with a new ensemble, the Tchaikovsky Quartet; teaching at the Moscow Conservatory; and performing with and conducting the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, which he founded in 1955. Barshai still found time to perform and record as a viola soloist. His viola recordings include Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante—with both Oistrakh and Menuhin—Handoshkin’s Viola Concerto, Berlioz’s Harold in Italy , and many smaller works. Conducting gradually took over the majority of Barshai’s career: he led the premiere of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14 in Leningrad in September 1969, conducted the Israel Chamber Orchestra from 1976 to 1981, and, gravitating west, later led the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Having studied orchestration with Prokofiev, Barshai also arranged many works over the course of his career including Bach’s Chaconne for solo viola, Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet for string orchestra, and Bach’s The Art of the Fugue for orchestra, which he completed shortly before his death on November 2, 2010.

Karen Tuttle

KarenTuttle 1920–2010

The music world lost one of its most inspirational fig ures with the passing of Karen Tuttle on December 16, 2010. As a performer, she had a sound of unsur passed beauty and a passionate style of playing that stirred the soul. A virtuoso soloist as well as the violist of the Schneider, Galimir, and Gotham quartets, she was one of the first women in the NBC Symphony. Before turning to the viola, Karen had been a young, successful violinist and was inspired to switch to the viola by the playing of William Primrose. After going to Curtis to study with him, she became his assistant and then a faculty member herself. She studied Bach extensively with Casals and performed with him many

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