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Sivori in New York was openly jealous of Bottesini's wildfire success there in the late 1840s. He wrote a letter (printed in the Herald) saying, "The sooner that man with the oversized instrument and undersized bow is forgotten, the better for the musical life of this City." Bottesini was apparently never aware of Sivori's comments -- the two of them toured together in Europe several times, and Bottesini had nothing but praise for the violinist. It is ironic that History has reversed Sivori's imprecation. Back to "Il Devastatore and the Critics"
"We all must learn where to place our fingers." © 1997, Jeff Brooks (mtic@aol.com) |