Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-28
BOY IS FAMOUS At FOURTEEN
Young violinist Has Most Remarkable
Life Story.
VISITS AMERICA IN AUTUMN
Each New Chapter of His Career
opens with Narrow Escape
wonders what is
Next.

erican Women in London, on funds raised
by the recent benefit concert under the
American Ambassadors auspices, she
ought to send a wreath to Mischa Elman,
whose free services chiefly contributed to
make the concert a success.
Probably, however, the young man
doesn't much care about wreaths. AL
though at the age Of seventeen he is per-
haps the greatest living v%iolinist, he
looks as little like the traditional musician
he Of long hair and poetic pallor-as he
does like an infant prodigy, He has a jol-
~. big, round face; comfortable hands
quite free from any reproach Of being ia
per-fingered; short. wavy, thick brown
hair of the stand-up-on-end kind: broad
shoulders. deep chest, and a pair Of legs
evidently made to stand on and not mere
~ for the support OF trousers.
He abominated knickerbockers and Elton
collars. and went into long trousers at the
first possible moment. refusing utterly to
be an infant phenomenon. and wishing to
be looked on az a grown-up man who had
no use for pretty ways and delicate
health, but wanted three big meals a day
and lots Of hearty outdoor fun. just as II
he were not a genius.
Early signs of Genius.
As ElIldR makes MS llrSt trip 10 Amerl-
ca this autumn, and as he is so different
from the ordinary run OF "wunderkinder,"
1t seemed likely that it would be Of III
terest to American readers to get some
stories Of the boys earliest manifestations
of genius, and to this end Daniel Mayer,
who is to musicians in England pretty
much what Charles Frohman is to actors
in America, was persuaded to produce
Elman's father, for purposes Of catechism.
The senior Elman is not yet fully Injured
to drawing-rooms, and has only lately be-
gun to realize that London's conventions
Of dress are worth bothering with, but no
one can talk with him long without really
ing that he is a good, sound father, who
doesn't propose to be a hanger-on, and
who would be quite capable OF administer
ing a spanking if he thought duty demand
ed 1t.
Although so much has been written
about Mischa Elman, II has been mostly
in the way Of comment and praise, and al
most nothing has been known Of the boys
beginnings as a musician. The story as
extricated from the senior Elman with
some help from an interpreter, proves un-
commonly interesting.
When Mischa was born the father was a
Jewish village s~choolmaster in the little
Russian town of Talnoje down near Odes-
sa. He had some fame in the village as a
violinist, and Nine. Elman was the
daughter of a violinist.
w used to notice" said NJ. Elman, "that
when Mischa was IS months old 1 could all
ways stop him from crying by playing to
him on my fiddle. He used to sit up mo-
tionless and seemed to be fascinated by the
music. When he was 4 he wanted to have
| s,r x1,1gn 20 ,,,,re, 7 -,,- afroGl - -.z.Ia
break it, but he got his mother to let him
have 1t one day WHEN l was away, and what
did he do but begin to move his fingers up
and down the strings, grinning whenever
he got the right notes Of the scale. l
caught him at 1t one day and decided to get
him a quarter violin. I thought he would
be happy, but he only looked at It and said
1t was not a fiddle at all, and as soon as
my back was turned he tore off the strings
and smashed the wood into little bits. We
were very poor and I was angry. He said
he wanted a real fiddle and would not have
anything else.
Gets a New Instrument
HE seemed to have such an extraordi-
nary ear for music that l at last decided to
save money and buy him another instru,
ment, bigger than the one he had de.
stroyed. The second day he rad it he rushst
out into the street to meet me as l was
coming home and said, I can play your
Waltz Cllcquot."' That was the name OF
a little waltz l used to play. OF course
would not believe 1t, but he seized me By
the hand and dragged me into the house
and sure enough he played the waltz al
most without a mistake and in surprising
rhythm. l could not believe my cars, fol
II seemed incredible that a boy Of 4, with
out instruction, should be able to play 6
waltz on the violin after having had Il
only two days. We had a village orchestra
OF six and | took him around to play will
them. Instead OF being frightened he no.
only played this waltz much better thar
before, but also another little waltz tina
he had heard me play. The trouble wal
that thereafter he always wanted to play
with the orchestra. OF course after that
began to teach him as well as l could.
Princess Aids Him.
when he was four and a half Princes.
Urusoff. who was the great lady Of tht
neighborhood and owned most Of the lanC
about us, heard about Mischa, and one day
a swell violinist came TO our house and sa'C
he had been sent by the princess to give
lessons TO Mischa. When he found that HI.
pupil was TO be a 4-year-old baby who
could scarcely speak he was very angry
and went away as fast as ever he could
But q few days later the princess asked
Mischa to come and play for her and
took our little orchestra along. But tbs
result was much grief to me, for she al
once wanted to adopt my little boy and
pay for his musical education and trire
him up as a gentleman. Her only condi.
ton was that he should leave the faith OF
his fathers and become a Christian. To
this felt ! could not consent. Fortuna. ely
though, the princess was not altogether
angry and assisted us somewhat In takine
the boy 10 Odessa when he was five and
a half. He was taken 10 Mlynarski. who
was at the head Of the c~onservatolre there
Mischa was so excited that the first thin
he did was 20 fall flat over the -ianc
stool. He also informed Mlynarskl tina,
he was Z months old and that he he'd PLAYED
the violin for five and a half years. II,
did not know at all what he was doing o.
saying"
Soon afterward Prof. Auer became in
terested in the boy, and as no Jews wer,
permitted to come 10 live in ST. Peters
burg except such as were born there. III,
professor had to get special permission
from the car In order that his proteg