LOST IN MUSIC

I was sorry to see the Building a Library on Sheherazade (January) did not mention the violinists, especially in the Thomas Beecham recording chosen as the best. It is Steven Staryk, still alive and well at 84. Though admired by other violinists, he is still not well enough known by the public.

His lack of a solo career on major labels may have been due to his being one of the ‘Symphony Six’ – members of the Toronto Symphony banned by the US from a tour during the height of Mccarthyism. This was especially strange in the case of Staryk, because the ban was based on his playing with a Ukrainian Youth Orchestra when he was 12 and 13. When the Red Scare was long past he became concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, but you still have to root around on smaller labels to find his legacy as a soloist. It is a legacy that is well worth celebrating. Gil Gross, California, US