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Phone: 212-860-5541
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Price: $75.00 |
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NEAR MINT CONDITION |
RUDOLF AND IRENE SERKIN |
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Irene writes a holographed note on the inside of their mutual 3” x 4” (closed) correspondence card, April, 1965. Mrs. Serkin writes in pen, Thank you for your kind invitation to the dinner Sunday, April 17th and regret not to be able to attend, since Mr. Serkin will be on Concert Tour in Europe. A date above the note is in pencil 4.4.65, possibly in another hand. Irene Serkin (1918-1999) was born into one of the most prominent musical families in Europe. Her father was Adolf Busch the violinist, her uncle was Fritz Busch and her other uncle was the cellist Hermann Busch. At 17 Rudolf Serkin moved into the Busch home and he and her father became a celebrated violin piano duo. Irene learned to play the violin and eventually played next to him in the Busch Chamber Players. The family including Serkin moved to Basel in 1927 and had her heart set on Rudolf, as Yehudi Menuhin asked to marry her and she told him no as she planned to marry Rudi. They were married in 1935. They took Swiss citizenship at that time. Serkin and Busch played the United States for the first time as a duo in 1933 in Washington D.C. Rudolf made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall with Toscanini conducting the New York Philharmonic in 1936 and he made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall the following year. In 1939, the Serkins and the Busch’s moved to the United States (Both Adolf and Herrmann and their families, Fritz went to England and then settled in Buenos Aires, Argentina.) The families settled in Marlboro, Vermont and followed Adolf Busch’s dream of a Summer music school and music festival. They became American citizens in 1949. Irene and Rudolf had 7 children, 6 survived to adulthood; their late son Peter the concert pianist was the most prominent. Irene helped with the administration of the school and festival and would sit in as a violinist and or violist as necessary. After Rudolf’s death in 1991, Irene kept the Marlboro establishment working despite ill health. The only example we have seen of this card. |
