Classical music
Joseph Szigeti
A Hungarian-born violinist, Joseph Szigeti (1892-1973) ranks among the most important of the 20th century, praised for his musical intelligence and the breadth of his repertoire, from the classical to the contemporary. He chose the Riviera as his final home and rests in the Clarens cemetery, where his son-in-law, the pianist Nikita Magaloff, later joined him.
Joseph Szigeti: a Hungarian violinist anchored on Lake Geneva
From Budapest to Geneva
Born in Budapest in 1892, Joseph Szigeti was a violin prodigy, trained by the great teacher Jenő Hubay. Barely out of his teens, he was already pursuing an international career.
In 1913 he chose Switzerland and settled there. From 1917 to 1925 he taught at the Geneva Conservatory. It was there, in 1918, that he met Wanda Ostrowska, a Russian stranded in Switzerland by the revolution; they married in 1919. French-speaking Switzerland became the anchor of a musician otherwise associated with the great stages of the world.
The American exile, then the return
In 1940, Szigeti left a Europe at war for the United States. There he continued his career as soloist and teacher, until arthritis hampered his playing in the 1950s and forced him to slow down.
In 1960, he and Wanda returned to Switzerland and settled on the shores of Lake Geneva, close to their daughter Irene.
A violin for Bartók, Ravel and Stravinsky
Szigeti’s reputation also rests on the trust shown him by the greatest composers of his time: Bartók, Ravel, Bloch, Prokofiev and Stravinsky wrote or dedicated works to him, drawn by the tone and intelligence of his playing. Back on the Riviera, he remained loyal to the Montreux Septembre Musical, which gave him a place in its programmes; he also sat on several international juries.
In 1972, the festival awarded him the Prix mondial du disque, a year before giving it to Arthur Rubinstein.
A family of musicians at the Clarens cemetery
In 1940, his daughter Irene had married the pianist Nikita Magaloff.
Joseph Szigeti died in 1973. He rests in the Clarens cemetery, where Nikita Magaloff would join him in 1992. Two generations of great music, the bow and the keyboard, brought together above Montreux.