Evening star., 1935-03-18
BY GEORGE w. HURD.
TO CONCERTGOERS of another
era he is great violinist; to

TO CONCERTGOERS of another
era he is great violinist; to
the younger washington music
Il lover of 1885 he is, perhaps,
an unknown quantity, but to
himself Jan Kubelik is fiddler" who
would rather talk about what the
world Is coming to than to talk about
himself
Kubelik is returning to the concert
stage here after an absence of many
years, but Washingtonians still re-
member him as the man who was the
reincarnation of the great Paganini.
While his lean and lanky son
Rafael stretched his long legs, like
giant forceps, from an easy chair
across the room Jan Kubelik talked
and talked about what effect
Adolph Hitler is having on world
peace what is going to come out Of
the present transition period and the
idiocy of war in general but not
a word of the fiddler
Different, Yet Alike.
The unusual couple, father and son,
are peculiarly alike, yet as differently
made up as a chubby cub bear and a
gazelle. The father, black of hair and
dark of eye, is short and chubby, max
ing a story-book picture Of what
famous violinist should look like. His
long, flowing hair reaches almost TO
the shoulders and is as black as a
crows wing, but growing increasingly
scanty atop. He combs it straight back
from the high, intelligent forehead,
giving him a pugnacious look. He is.
however, a friendly, Sociable little man
who loves a good laugh.
His son, Rafael, standing well over
6 feet, wears his hair like his father,
but there the likeness ends, except for
the characteristic ability to appreciate
a witticism and the reluctance to talk
about himself. His hair is of light
brown, underscored by blue eyes and
finely chiseled brows. His long, taper
ing fingers drum nervously on his
cheek as he talks, while his legs beat
a rythmic swing to and fro.
Fingers Belle Skill.
And speaking Of fingers, one would
never imagine that the great Kubelik
is a violinist to see his rather short,
stubby fingers, yet they have held
their thousands spell-bound with
their manipulation of the strings.
There is a certain strong person.
ality about the man which one does
not associate with the violinist, yet
with this underlying strength of
character and force of artistry he has
been able to bring back to the con-
cert stage something that was lost
with Paganini.
Kubelik admittedly Is Just letting
things happen these days His con-
cert tour is booked only for Balti-
more New York and Boston after
leaving Washington, but this is not a
source of worry. He believes that
things will work out to his advantage.
The violinist will be in Washington
until wednesday, playing one con-
cert at Constitution Hall tomorrow
night. He will be accompanied at the
piano by Rafael, who is a musician
Father Has ColorfuI Past.
Papa Kubelik keeps very still when
Rafael talks about those silly things
like the saxophone and French horn.
Rafael says he would like to play
some wind instruments for a change,
but Papa Kubelik offers no encour-
agement to such besmirchment of the
art Kubelik believes the world is
returning to the appreciation of the
arts and is becoming more and more
weaned away from the junglelike
rhythm of jazz.
Kubelik has a colorful past that
makes a story in itself. During the
war he was forced to remain in Aus
tria- Hungary, but he refused to fight.