I have never known an artist with a more imposing stage presence. And he [Eugène Ysaÿe] had a heart to match his body. He was a man of embracing warmth and magnanimity, with an unquenchable zest for life. He lived to the full – he used to say he burned his candle at both ends – and his music reflected his fiery spirit. When he played, one felt ennobled. (…) It was the great Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim, who discovered him in a café in Berlin and persuaded him to pursue a concert career. Of course his mode of playing differed greatly from Joachim’s. Ysaÿe liberated the violin from the strictures of the past. I cannot agree with those who feel he took too many liberties with a score and couldn’t curb his imagination. One has to remember the time at which his artistry developed and the inhibiting traditions of “classicism” he overcame. Indeed, his imaginative powers were integral to his genius, and his influence on the art of the violin has been immeasurable. << less