Instruments worth $200,000

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34103, 16 March 1976, Page 18

Instruments worth $200,000

Gyorgy Pauk and Ralph Kirshbaum are the owners of string instruments, one cello and one violin, that have a total market value of more than $200,000, without the bows.

Pauk and Kirshbaum are [two of the chamber music team. Frankl. Pauk and Kirshbaum, which is in Christchurch for the Arts Festival. They have already given one recital, and will :give another on Thursday 'after they have played on

Wednesday evening with the i New Zealand Symphony !• Orchestra. I' Everywhere Pauk and ; Kirshbaum travel, they take • their violin and cello. If their instruments are not with them, they are under lock and key nearby.

Both said in Christchurch yesterday that their relationship with their two instruments was something of a love affair, the difference being that the instruments’ monetary value was higher. Ralph Kirshbaum, born in Texas, said his cello was a Montagnana. 250 years old. Georgy Pauk’s violin was a Stradavarius, played by Joseph Massart more than 260 years ago. Each had a value of more than SlOO.OOO. It was quite wrong to think that a professional :artist hankered after the best instrument in the same [way as a materialist wanted ■ the best car and the best ;yadht, Mr Kirshbaum said. Music was an expression of the soul. Every musician ;has to have a rapport with his instrument; no two (musicians would seek the (same things in an instrument.

“When I look for an in- ■ strument, I don't care what •it costs, as long as it resi ponds to me. I pick it up, [and I say ‘What will this one Ido?’ ” Not only the instruments [had that sort of value to a musician. Bows alone could cost as much as $20,000. Ralph Kirshbaum says he has one of the five best Montagnana cellos in the world, and one of the best 12 cellos. Stradavarius cellos were second only to the [Montagnana, he said. ! Pauk says his violin is one (of the 50 “good Stradavarius violins.” About 500 StradaIvariuses were extant.

Ralph Kirshbaum has a habit of standing his cello on end in public places, draping a coat round its neck, and placing a hat on its “head.” He counts the number of people who do a double take, and then the number who do a triple take. He calls his cello “King Tut,” a shortened version of (King Tutankhamen. The j name was suggested at a ■time when the relics from ■the tomb of the Egyptian iking were on tour. Being [something of a relic itself, [the Montagnana deserved something cryptic for a (name, Kirshbaum thought.

In his London rooms it sits alongside a “lady” cello

■ called Sylvia. Sylvia was (definitely a female cello, it Iwas smaller, curvacious, and: gentle. Beside it, King Tut was totally masculine. One of the problems about travelling with a cello, however, was that some airlines demanded full fare for the

cello as well as Kirshbaiun. Often there were ways around this, but on the odd occasion payment of fares for him and King Tut came to half the return in fees. A 250-year-old cello could inot become the responsibility of a baggage handier who (cared less about. its value than getting it on the plane. ;It had to travel with its | owner. He was constantly recommended to take up the piccolo. Pauk has fewer troubles with his violin, but carries it everywhere. So few people were qualified to adjust the sound post to his liking, that it could mean a trip a quarter of the way round the world if it were knocked and shifted even half a millimetre, he said. Peter Frankl, Gyorgy Pauk, and Ralph Kirshbaum all have international careers as

soloists, but play together on tours. They are all competition prize-winners and acclaimed festival artists who have performed at many of the most renowned venues and concerts. Frankl and Pauk, who are

Hungarian-born, have played together since childhood. Kirshbaum joined the duo three years ago. All now live in London, a habitat which brings out al] the temperamental quirks in their instruments.

Frankl. who has played with most of the leading orchestras in Britain and America, is in the process of recording the complete works of Schumann.

He has become an integral part of London’s musical life and makes frequent appearances each season. He studied at the Franz Liszt Music Academy, from which he graduated in 1956.

His London debut in 1962 led to performances with all the London orchestras and most of the other leading orchestras, as well as appearances at the Edinburgh. Cheltenham, and Aldeburg festivals. His international status was confirmed after his first major tour of North America. This tour ended in appearances in New York and Cleveland under the acclaimed composer and conductor George Szell. Since then he has performed regularly with the best known American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, the Washington National Symphony and the Boston Symphony. He also plays regularly in the major i European centres.