Music: Italian Conquest

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In Italy last week, the Russians were all over the place. Ballerina Galina Ulanova (TIME, June 25) had another frantic success at Milan's La Scala. Romans were astonished at the formidable power and technique of Pianist Emil Ghilels, 35. And in Florence for the first time, an audience of 2,700 heard a 42-year-old violinist, now rated the equal of Heifetz, Menuhin, Szigeti and Milstein. His name: David Oistrakh.

Oistrakh proved to his hearers that the rating was deserved. He warmed up with Mozart's Sonata in B Flat Major (K.454), concluded the first half of the program with a faultless performance of Prokofiev's poetic Sonata in B Flat. Oistrakh conquered the most difficult passages with effortless technique, played with such feeling and clarity that the audience cheered him back for six curtain calls.

After the intermission, he fiddled even more brilliantly, melting the audience with his interpretations of Chausson, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns and Ysaÿe. He took eight more curtain calls, played three encores. The critics next day were equally enthusiastic. Glowed La Nazione Italiana: "A tremendous violinist. His tone is of exceptional power . . . His left hand has the agility of a rope dancer."

Oistrakh's parents (his father was a gifted amateur violinist, his mother a professional singer) started their boy off young. At five, David was studying violin in Odessa, his home town. He moved to Moscow in 1928 after a successful concert tour, continued to build his reputation in Russia, made brief appearances in France, Holland, Sweden and Belgium. In 1937, he won first prize in the Concours Eugene Ysaye, Belgium's international violin competition, later was awarded a first-class Stalin Prize. Now, between concerts, he teaches at the Moscow Conservatory.

Oistrakh looked forward to visiting the Florentine museums. Said he: "Playing the violin is more than just a work of the hands. I may get more as a musician from the galleries than from practicing the violin."