Jan Kubelik

The violin virtuoso Jan Kubelik was, in his heyday, an immensely famous and wealthy performer. He became popular at a time when the art of violin playing was experiencing a revolution, spurred on by his older contemporary and fellow star Eugène Ysaÿe (1858 - 1931). However, while Ysaÿe had made it a point to inject his playing with an interpretive depth and complexity of insight, Kubelik prized mastery of technique over depth of expression, performing Paganini-style finger twisters with incredible ease. While this approach was guaranteed to dazzle audiences, it was not designe...