Waht do you think about Authur Grumiaux?

Hey, every classical music lover,

I just want to share my feeling with you all. Actually I think Arthur Grumiaux hadn't the fame that he deserved. In fact he is one of the greatest Belgian-Franco violinists that should have the same places like Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Ysaye in the history. However, nowadays people would only think about the violinists in 20th century like Heifetz, Milstein, Oistrakh, Menuhin, or even Perlman and Kremer. But they forgot that there are some violinists that should be also considered as 'great', like Grumiaux, especially his Bach and Mozart, I don't think any violinists can play them better then him, even Heifetz.

However people just forgot him. It is also said that people not only forgot Grumiaux but even Szeryng and 'the king of the violinists' Kreisler.

What do you think?

I agree- I love his Bach. To me, Heifetz is overrated. Great player no doubt, but was much better suited to salon-type music IMO Kreisler- a wonderful player but had an incredibly restricted repertoire. As a musician Grumiaux wins IMO hands down (disregarding his compositions). I love Grumiaux' Beethoven concerto, but perhaps my favourite is Herman Krebbers', another sensitive musician, not splashy, but shows true musicianship. I personally have no time for the music of Paganini; sure its impressive if you can play it, but is it music? See above Regards, Michael Creevey

Couldn't agree more

As far as I know Grumiaux was a truly great and fantastic performer, maybe even greater than Perlman, but he didn't compose, unlike Ysaye and Kreisler. And the quality of his recordings is not so good, Philips sounds terrible harsh. So I understand why he is neglected. Greetings Hans

Grumiaux is a big favorite of mine. He is indeed under rated.

His playing sounds very dry to me; especially his Mozart is awfully dry. Considering the number of his recordings available, I don't think he's underrated.

'Even' Kremer??? He's one of the best violinists alive. Incredibly energy and passion.

I confess I don't know his Mozart, which is not necessarily his cup of tea. I positively defy you, however, to listen unimpressed to his performance of the Chaconne on Phillips.