NYT: Eugene Fodor, Violinist of Early Promise, Dies at 60
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/arts/music/03fodor.html
By MARGALIT FOX
Eugene Fodor, an American violinist who made international headlines
in the 1970s after earning a top prize in the Tchaikovsky
Competition and in the 1980s after being arrested on drug charges,
died on Saturday at his home in Arlington, Va. He was 60.
The cause was cirrhosis, his wife, Susan Davis, said. She said that
Mr. Fodor had battled drug and alcohol addiction in recent years.
Known for his dark good looks, ready Western charm and prodigious
technique, Mr. Fodor was awarded second prize at the 1974
International Tchaikovsky Violin Competition in Moscow. (No first
prize was given that year; Mr. Fodor shared the second-place award
with two Soviet violinists.)
At the time his showing was the highest placement in the contest by
an American violinist. That, amid the cold war, was enough to ensure
him a hero's welcome when he returned home to Colorado (in a
well-choreographed publicity stunt, his horse, along with his
parents, met him at the airport) and the prospect of a stellar
career. The Van Cliburn of the violin, he was called. Mr. Cliburn, a
fellow American, had won the Tchaikovsky piano competition in 1958.
A string of international engagements followed, as did a recording
contract with RCA. Mr. Fodor performed at the White House and
appeared often on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, where the
talk centered as much on his outdoorsmanship as it did on his
musicianship.
As a result Mr. Fodor spent much of the 1970s as one of the few
classical musicians known to the general public.
If Mr. Fodor was unable to sustain his early golden promise, his
story is a cautionary tale of what can happen when a gifted young
artist, still personally and musically immature, is turned into a
global commodity for a spate of wrong reasons.
Eugene Nicholas Fodor Jr. was born in Denver on March 5, 1950, and
reared on his family's ranch in Morrison, Colo. (He is not related
to the Eugene Fodor who published travel guides.)
He began violin lessons at 5; by the time he was 10, he had made his
orchestral debut, playing Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the
Denver Symphony.
He later studied at the Juilliard School with Dorothy DeLay and Ivan
Galamian, at Indiana University with Josef Gingold, and briefly with
Jascha Heifetz.
In 1972 Mr. Fodor came to prominence after winning first prize in
the Paganini Competition, an international violin contest in Italy.
After his success in the Tchaikovsky two years later -- at a time
when the classical music industry was keen to broaden its appeal --
his handlers leaped at the chance to inject his public image with a
liberal dose of beefcake.
Mr. Fodor obliged them by going along with it (a memorable publicity
photo of the period showed him astride a horse, shirtless), as did
the news media, by eating it up. The Mick Jagger of the violin, he
was called, an image he later said he longed to shed.
In July 1989, Mr. Fodor was arrested on Martha's Vineyard after
breaking into a motel room there. Charges against him included
breaking and entering and possession of heroin and cocaine with
intent to distribute.
He was released on bail -- the judge had refused to accept his
Guarnerius violin as surety -- and later pleaded guilty to the
charge of breaking and entering and not guilty to the drug charges.
Under a plea agreement that mandated drug treatment, Mr. Fodor
received three years' probation. In interviews afterward, he
expressed joy in his newfound sobriety and excitement at resuming
his career.
But even before he was arrested Mr. Fodor's career appeared to fall
short of the Olympian heights he had been led to expect. He
performed worldwide, but not always with the finest orchestras or in
the most prestigious halls, a situation that the arrest only
intensified.
Mr. Fodor had made his early reputation with dazzling showpieces by
Paganini, Fritz Kreisler and Henryk Wieniawski, and critics took him
increasingly to task for what they saw as the triumph of flash over
substance.
He relapsed periodically into drugs and alcohol. "He would be clean
for years and then start using again," Ms. Davis said in an
interview Tuesday.
Mr. Fodor's personal life was sometimes unsettled. Married in 1978,
he and Ms. Davis divorced in 1986. His second marriage, to Sally
Swedlund, also ended in divorce. He and Ms. Davis remarried in
November.
Besides Ms. Davis, Mr. Fodor is survived by their two daughters,
Daniella Davis and Lindsay Davis, and their son, Dylan Davis; a
sister, Deborah Fodor-Bode; a brother, John, a retired Denver
Symphony violinist; and two grandchildren.
Last year, in despair over his career, Mr. Fodor stopped playing the
violin entirely, Ms. Davis said. He canceled his scheduled concerts.
"It was too painful for him," she said. "He felt like his career had
been ripped from him, and he didn't have the great venues to play in
anymore. and it just crushed him."
Nigel Curtis
The list of conductors' recommendation letters is a bit provincial and
pathetic:
Peter T. Daniels
De mortuis nil nisi bonum.
laraine
> Eugene Fodor, Violinist of Early Promise, Dies at 60http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/arts/music/03fodor.html
On Fodor's webpage and also on wikipedia,
it says that he has recorded the Bach
violin concertos, but I don't see
those sold anywhere, or even a
reference to such on the web.
So hopefully someone has or will
organize his recordings.
C.
JohnGavin
After his initial contract with RCA ran out - I would find recordings
of his on small CD labels. I remember seeing the 3 Brahms Violin
Sonatas, crossover CDs, and some Paganini CDs. I don't remember any
Bach.
Dufus
bassppn
listening to him live explains why he he never had a completely
successful carreer, even before drugs and alcohol, or whatever. His
playing lacked discipline and at times was not always accurate.
AB
johntramsay
I don't think it was lack of discipline or accuracy: he had great
technique. It just seems that he never played much of the standard
repertoire, and that cannot get you too far as a soloist. I don't
think his tone was particular special, either, but it is hard to
compare him to others with what is out there when we don't have
recordings of the standard concertos: Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky,
Mendelssohn, etc. Yes, a sad tale.
wkasimer
> I don't think it was lack of discipline or accuracy: he had great
> technique. It just seems that he never played much of the standard
> repertoire, and that cannot get you too far as a soloist. I don't
> think his tone was particular special, either, but it is hard to
> compare him to others with what is out there when we don't have
> recordings of the standard concertos: Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky,
> Mendelssohn, etc. Yes, a sad tale.
I agree that it's a sad tale, but I think that it's more a cautionary
tale about the risks of excessive hype, rather than a tale of
unfulfilled potential. The other night I spent some time listening to
a couple of Fodor's records - "Witches' Brew" and the Mendelssohn and
Tchaikovsky concertos - and came to the conclusion that he really
wasn't a particularly good violinist, from either an interpretive or a
technical viewpoint.
Bill
bassppn
correct, as I also mentioned above.
AB
laraine
The recording I have (Sarasate, Vitali, etc.),
which is an older one, shows him with very
fine technique for the most part, as far
as I know, though it's not always perfect.
But a lot of other violinists don't always
seem perfect either in all performances.
What he seems to be good at here is a sense
of profundity, or maybe hyperreality,
different from the expressive niceness
you sometimes hear on these short pieces,
though he is certainly expressive.
C.
laraine
He does say in the Paganini violin video
that he is changing the fingerings, I
suppose to get that golden tone that
maybe Paganini had. That could be harder
to play.
After watching Hilary Hahn on pop TV, I
don't think it's a great showcase for classical
violinists, though the casual atmosphere
can work for some less formal pieces.
Fodor actually seems fairly comfortable
with it.
C.