Dates

• Existence: March 7, 1875 - December 28, 1937

Biography

Zino Francescatti was a violin prodigy born in Marseilles, 1902. After a very successful teenage touring career he eventually made the acquaintance of Maurice Ravel, with whom he formed a duo and toured Britain in 1926. He taught at the Ecole Normale de Musique from 1927 to 1929 and steadily developed a solo career in Europe and the USA. In 1939 he settled in New York, though after the war he continued to teach in France where he retired in 1976.

In one particular performance of the 1926 tour, Ravel and Francescatti were joined by Hekking as well as soprano Dorothy Silk, and accompanist George Reeves. This performance took place on February 2, 1926 at Town Hall in Birmingham England.