Scan 43
Celebrated violinists, past and present; ("The Strad" library), 1897
4 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. Printed page 31. See the scan on archive.org.
1Brussels to study the violin under Léonard and composition under Dameke. While the Princess Hélène of Russia (who had always interested herself in musicians), was staying at Ostend, Besekirskij played before her, and so gratified was she by his performance, that she presented him with a purse of 1,000 rubles, a sum that was sufficient to enable him to continue his studies. In 1859 he repeatedly appeared in the concert rooms of Paris and Brussels with success, but immediately afterwards he returned to Moscow and once more entered the Royal Opera band. He next founded a series of concerts there in which he played, but his first appearance in St. Petersburg in 1863 was his most perfect triumph. Three years later he gave four concerts in Madrid, and in the following winter he appeared no less than twelve times at Nice. In 1867 he was once more in Moscow, and in the following year he repeated his triumph at the Russian capital, and created quite a furore in Leipzig by his rendering of a violin concerto of his own composition. The good reception he had been accorded in Leipzig led to his being invited to return there in 1869, when he appeared in the Gewandhaus. On his way back to Moscow he played in various places with unvarying success. This suggested to him the idea of making a prolonged tour, and with this in view he obtained a year's leave of absence and gave concerts in Prague, Berlin, Cologne, and elsewhere. Besekirskij is a composer of violin music of whom, and of which, more deserves to be known in this country. His above-mentioned concerto and a concert polonaise are very popular in some parts of the continent, but they are both practically unknown to English concert goers.
3In the list of first appearances at the London Philharmonic Concerts in 1868, the name of Besekirskij may be found.
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