When Samuel Magad auditioned for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a 26-year-old vet fresh from the U.S. Army Orchestra, he of course was accepted — the violinist had already debuted with the CSO as an 11-year-old prodigy during World War II.
But there was one issue.
"You're a good player, but could you get a better violin?" asked music director Fritz Reiner, who studied under Bartok.
No, that wasn't possible, in the short term.
"I had a junk violin, but I was broke," Magad recalled. "I had a wife, two babies and not a penny. He said, 'I'll take you anyway.'"
In the long term, however, a better violin would come. By the time Magad's nearly half-century with the CSO ended, he was playing the 1710 Stradivari "Vieuxtemps Hauser."
After a lifetime of playing music at the highest levels, including as the backbone of the CSO for 48 years, Magad died in Buffalo Grove on May 25 at age 94.
"It’s mind-boggling to think of the changes Sam navigated during his years under four very different Chicago Symphony music directors," said Wynne Delacoma, the former longtime classical music critic at the Sun-Times. "He arrived in 1958 during the reign of the legendarily precise Fritz Reiner and rose to assistant concertmaster in 1966 during Jean Martinon’s relatively short tenure. Georg Solti named him concertmaster in 1972, and Sam held that front-row seat for two decades as the high-octane CSO-Solti chemistry turned the orchestra into an international powerhouse. He was a steady presence during the next 15 years when Daniel Barenboim’s approach to a piece of music could change from one performance to the next. Sam’s impeccable technical skills and open mindset were invaluable assets to whomever was on the podium."
The concertmaster is the unsung backstop who not only cues the A note — usually played by the oboist — which the orchestra tunes their instruments to at the start of each piece, but he sees that the conductor's wishes are obeyed and facilitates logistics. If a star violin soloist breaks a string mid-performance, the concertmaster will swap instruments.
Some concertmasters are mere mouthpieces of the conductor; not Magad.
"Magad saw himself as a colleague of the orchestra's players, walking the players' side of the divide with management," Anne Mischakoff Heiles writes in "America's Concertmasters." "Giving voice to their concerns, he endeavored to use his voice to promote the welfare of his colleagues."
But there was one issue.
"You're a good player, but could you get a better violin?" asked music director Fritz Reiner, who studied under Bartok.
No, that wasn't possible, in the short term.
"I had a junk violin, but I was broke," Magad recalled. "I had a wife, two babies and not a penny. He said, 'I'll take you anyway.'"
In the long term, however, a better violin would come. By the time Magad's nearly half-century with the CSO ended, he was playing the 1710 Stradivari "Vieuxtemps Hauser."
After a lifetime of playing music at the highest levels, including as the backbone of the CSO for 48 years, Magad died in Buffalo Grove on May 25 at age 94.
"It’s mind-boggling to think of the changes Sam navigated during his years under four very different Chicago Symphony music directors," said Wynne Delacoma, the former longtime classical music critic at the Sun-Times. "He arrived in 1958 during the reign of the legendarily precise Fritz Reiner and rose to assistant concertmaster in 1966 during Jean Martinon’s relatively short tenure. Georg Solti named him concertmaster in 1972, and Sam held that front-row seat for two decades as the high-octane CSO-Solti chemistry turned the orchestra into an international powerhouse. He was a steady presence during the next 15 years when Daniel Barenboim’s approach to a piece of music could change from one performance to the next. Sam’s impeccable technical skills and open mindset were invaluable assets to whomever was on the podium."
The concertmaster is the unsung backstop who not only cues the A note — usually played by the oboist — which the orchestra tunes their instruments to at the start of each piece, but he sees that the conductor's wishes are obeyed and facilitates logistics. If a star violin soloist breaks a string mid-performance, the concertmaster will swap instruments.
Some concertmasters are mere mouthpieces of the conductor; not Magad.
"Magad saw himself as a colleague of the orchestra's players, walking the players' side of the divide with management," Anne Mischakoff Heiles writes in "America's Concertmasters." "Giving voice to their concerns, he endeavored to use his voice to promote the welfare of his colleagues."
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