Ossy Renardy

Oskar Reiss was born in Vienna in 1920, to non-musical parents who worked as waiters. His first and only teacher was the violin pedagogue Theodore Pashkus who, "while teaching one day, noticed a small, six-year-old boy in the street beneath the studio window. Pashkus, with unusually clear instinct, invited the little boy inside and placed a small violin in his hands. Indulgently, Pashkus gave the child his first music lesson and even in that first lesson, was so impressed with the remarkable grasp and intelligence of the youngster, that Pashkus decided to experiment with him. Within a few weeks of the informal free violin lessons he had begun so casually, Pashkus realized that at least, he had found the pupil of whom every teacher dreams, literally on his own doorstep". Renardy later joined a touring variety troupe for a season in Merano, Italy, beginning on 27 October 1933. who invited him to play with the Vienna Philharmonic. Then came his first tour of the Baltic countries, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, France and once again Italy. He visited the United States the same year. This came about after the wife of an American concert promoter heard Renardy on Italian radio. This was the first of Renardy's many recordings; his last recording, made shortly before his death in 1953, was a second reading of the 24 Caprices, again in the arrangement by Ferdinand David. In 1947 In 1949 he married his sweetheart Suzette Guttwirth, whom he had met in Vienna in 1936. This was regarded as a great loss to the musical world at the time. Gramophone's obituary of March 1954 said: "At thirty-three he seemed destined to don the mantle of his compatriot Kreisler, whose style of playing was not dissimilar". ==Recordings==

Concerto Ossy Renardy's sole concerto recording with orchestra was the Brahms Concerto in D major, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under Charles Munch, made on 27 June 1948. At the time of release, this recording was considered worthy of comparison to those of Heifetz, Szigeti, Neveu and Menuhin. Irving Kolodin reviewed the set in "The New Guide To Recorded Music" (Doubleday (publisher), New York, 1950), saying ''"There is no single merit in the Renardy to give it precedence over the Szigeti or Heifetz or Neveu, save a richer serving of the colors in the score than previously provided by any source. However, Renardy's is a very live, youthful, and ingratiating performance, which has its own authentic alertness, consistently controlled. The Munch background is extremely good."'' Charles Munch was one of Ossy Renardy's greatest admirers, saying of him, "There is only one word to describe him: perfection. He has everything - style, technique and tone, combined in the most splendid manner". Other recordings Walter Robert was Renardy's principal accompanist both in recordings and in concert. Other accompanists he used in recordings included Eugene List and Ernest Lush. His other recordings include: • J. S. Bach: • Sonata for solo violin No 1 in G minor, BWV 1001 • Sonata for solo violin No 3 in C major, BWV 1005 • Johannes Brahms: F-A-E Sonata - Allegro in C minor (Walter Robert, piano) • Burmester: Viennese Serenade (Walter Robert, piano) • Arcangelo Corelli: Sonata No. 8 in E minor (Leo Taubman, piano) • Antonín Dvořák: • Ballade in D minor, Op. 15/1, B. 139 (Walter Robert, piano) • Sonatina in G major, Op. 100, B. 183 (Walter Robert, piano) • Slavonic Dance in G minor, Op. 46/8 (Walter Robert, piano) • Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst: Hungarian Airs, Op. 22 (Walter Robert, piano) • César Franck: Violin Sonata in A (Eugene List, piano) • George Frideric Handel, arr. Carl Flesch: Prayer (Walter Robert, piano) • Fritz Kreisler: • Liebesfreud, Liebesleid (Ernest Lush, piano) • Caprice viennois, Tambourin chinois (Ernest Lush, piano) • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Adagio in E, K. 261 (Walter Robert, piano) • Niccolò Paganini: • 24 Caprices for solo violin (arr. violin and piano by Ferdinand David) (Walter Robert, piano) • 24 Caprices for solo violin (arr. David) (Eugene Helmer, piano) • Caprice No. 17 in E-flat major (arr. Fuchs); Caprice No. 24 in A minor (arr. Carl Flesch) (Ernest Lush, piano) • Sonata No. 12 in E minor (Walter Robert, piano) • "Le streghe", Theme and Variations, Op. 8 (Ernest Lush, piano) • Piatti: Sonata No. 1 in E minor (Walter Robert, piano) • Maurice Ravel: Violin Sonata (Eugene List, piano) • Camille Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A major, arr. violin and piano (Walter Robert, piano) • Pablo de Sarasate: • Zorzico, Adios montaños mias, Op. 37 (Walter Robert, piano) • Danzas Españolas No. 6 (Walter Robert, piano) • Romanza Andaluza and Jota Navarra, Op. 22 (Walter Robert, piano) • Zapateado, Op. 23, No. 2 (Walter Robert, piano) • Franz Schubert: • Sonatina No. 1 in D major, Op. posth. 137/1, D. 384 (Walter Robert, piano) • Sonatina No. 3 in G minor, Op. posth. 137.3, D. 408 - 3rd, 4th movements (Walter Robert, piano) • Schubert arr. August Wilhelmj: Ave Maria, D. 839 (Ernest Lush, piano) • Franz von Vecsey: Caprice No. 2 in F-sharp major, "Cascade" (Walter Robert, piano) • Henryk Wieniawski: Scherzo-Tarantelle in G minor, Op. 16 (Ernest Lush, piano) • Aleksander Zarzycki: Mazurka in G, Op. 26 (Walter Robert, piano) ==References==