Mischa Elman (January 20, 1891 – April 5, 1967) was a Ukrainian-born violinist, famed for his passionate style and the beauty of his tone.
He was born in the small village of Talnoye in the province of Kiev. His grandfather was a klezmer, a Jewish folk musician, who also played the violin. It became apparent when Mischa was very young that he had perfect pitch, but his father hesitated about a career as a musician, since musicians were not very high on the social scale. [read more...]