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33-538: The competition was founded in 1945 in honour of the Hungarian violinist Carl Flesch (1873–1944), who was particularly noted as a violin teacher. It was founded in the form of the "Flesch Medal" by Max Rostal and Edric Cundell of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama ; Rostal had been a pupil of Flesch. Flesch's son, Carl F. Flesch, was also instrumental in the competition's foundation, and commissioned

66-524: A commemorative medal portraying his father from Benno Elkan to be presented to the winners. The early competitions were organised by the Guildhall School. Initially they were held annually in October, around the date of Flesch's birthday. From the start they were open to international entrants, with an age cut-off of thirty years. In addition to the medal, the original prize included a concert as

99-603: A composers' competition organised by the Society for the Promotion of New Music ; these include Michael Blake Watkins' The Wings of Night , Edward McGuire 's Rant , Helen Roe's Notes towards a Definition and Michael Finnissy 's Enek . An audience award began in 1972, and the total prize money increased during the 1970s and 1980s; in 1976, the first prize was worth £1250, with a second prize of £1000, third prize of £750, and three further prizes totalling £800. In 1988 and 1990,

132-463: A high-level conservatory . The Barbican Hall's acoustic has also been controversial: some praised it as attractively warm, but others found it too dry for large-scale orchestral performance. In 1994, Chicago acoustician Larry Kirkegaard oversaw a £500,000 acoustic re-engineering of the hall "producing a perceptible improvement in echo control and sound absorption", music critic Norman Lebrecht wrote in October 2000 – and returned in 2001 to rip out

165-529: A lack of performing space, plus the artistic director, Adrian Noble , wanting to develop the company's touring performances. The theatre's response was to extend its existing six-month season of international productions, "Barbican International Theatre Event", to the whole year. On 23 January 2013, Greg Doran , RSC artistic director, announced the company's return to the Barbican Centre in a three-year season of Shakespeare's history plays . In 2017,

198-567: A new concert hall called the Centre for Music, London was proposed by the Barbican, London Symphony Orchestra , and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama . The proposals were cancelled in 2021. The Guildhall School of Music and Drama , where the Barbican Centre theatrical performances are occasionally staged, and the City of London's Barbican Library, neither part of the centre, are also on

231-481: A pupil of both Flesch and Rostal, was the director and chair from 1968; he increased the competition's standing by recruiting Yehudi Menuhin and others to serve on the jury. It became a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions in 1969. In 1970 the remit broadened to include viola players, with the first overall violist winner being Csaba Erdélyi in 1972. The formal title became

264-635: A similar skew towards the home nationality was apparent in the results of some other competitions. In 1968, the competition joined the City of London Festival , an arts festival held in July, and the frequency changed to every two years. By then, the age limit had been raised to thirty-two years. In addition to the Carl Flesch Medal, a first prize of £1000 was offered, with a second prize of £750, third prize of £500 and fourth prize of £250. Yfrah Neaman ,

297-681: A soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra . The first competition was won by the British violinist Raymond Cohen ; his win was said to have "launched him on to the world stage". At that date there were relatively few international music competitions; a slightly earlier violin competition is the French Marguerite Long–Jacques Thibaud Competition , which was founded in 1943 but did not attract international competitors until 1946. After

330-637: Is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London , England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions . It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory . The Barbican Centre is a member of the Global Cultural Districts Network . The London Symphony Orchestra and

363-528: Is a highly distinguished interpretation of Bach's great D minor Double Violin Concerto (Columbia) in which he played second violin to the great Joseph Szigeti , with Walter Goehr conducting an anonymous London string orchestra in the late 1930s. He was consulted (as was Oskar Adler ) by Louis Krasner over technical difficulties in Alban Berg's Violin Concerto , which Krasner was to premiere. He owned

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396-803: Is a staple of violin pedagogy . Flesch was born in Moson (now part of Mosonmagyaróvár ) in Hungary in 1873. He began playing the violin at seven years of age. At 10 he was taken to Vienna to study with Jakob Grün . At 17 he left for Paris , and joined the Conservatoire de Paris , studying with Martin Pierre Marsick . He settled in 1903 in Amsterdam, in 1908 in Berlin, and in 1934 in London. He

429-461: Is situated in an area which was badly bombed during World War II. The Barbican Centre, designed by Peter Chamberlin , Geoffry Powell and Christoph Bon of Chamberlin, Powell and Bon in the Brutalist style, has a complex multi-level layout with numerous entrances. Lines painted on the ground help would-be audience members avoid getting lost on the walkways of the Barbican Estate , within which

462-794: The Brancaccio Stradivarius , but had to sell it in 1931 after losing all his money on the New York Stock Exchange . Because of his Jewish origins, Flesch had to move to London during the 1930s, and was later arrested by the Gestapo in the Netherlands, was released thanks to Furtwängler's intervention, and died in Lucerne , Switzerland, in November 1944. Barbican Hall The Barbican Centre

495-624: The BBC Symphony Orchestra are based in the centre's Concert Hall. In 2013, it once again became the London-based venue of the Royal Shakespeare Company following the company's departure in 2001. The Barbican Centre is owned, funded, and managed by the City of London Corporation . It was built as the City's gift to the nation at a cost of £161 million (equivalent to £718,000,000 in 2023) and

528-556: The Pentagram design studio , added statues and decorative features reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts movement . In 2005–2006, the centre underwent a more significant refurbishment, designed by architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and Roger Westman , which improved circulation and introduced bold signage in a style in keeping with the centre's original 1970s Brutalist architecture . That improvement scheme added an internal bridge linking

561-439: The 'London Collection' of historical books and resources, some of which date back to the 18th century, all being available on loan. The library presents regular literary events and has an art exhibition space for hire. The music library has two free practice pianos for public use. The Barbican Centre had a long development period, only opening some years after the surrounding Barbican Estate housing complex had been finished. It

594-401: The City of London International Competition for Violin and Viola (Carl Flesch Medal). According to Grove ' s, it was then "one of the most important testing grounds for aspiring soloists up to the age of 32." The music journalist Norman Lebrecht described it in 2002 as "one of the toughest violin contests". From the 1970s specially composed test pieces were employed, which derived from

627-601: The Second World War, the number of competitions increased rapidly. In 1949, the Carl Flesch competition was described by The Musical Times as "the premier international award for violinists under thirty years of age". By 1956, three British orchestras offered solo concerts to the winners: the London Philharmonic, Liverpool Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Orchestra . By the 1960s the final

660-470: The Silk Street foyer area with the lakeside foyer area. The centre's Silk Street entrance, previously dominated by an access for vehicles, was modified to give better pedestrian access. The scheme included removing most of the mid-1990s embellishments. Outside, the main focal point of the centre is the lake and its neighbouring terrace. The theatre's fly tower has been surrounded by glass and made into

693-500: The ambition of the project. The centre was designed by architectural practice Chamberlin, Powell and Bon , who were also responsible for the upscale residential area surrounding the centre (the Barbican Estate ), as well as the nearby Golden Lane Estate . Project architect John Honer later worked on the British Library at St Pancras – a red brick ziggurat. In the mid-1990s, a cosmetic improvement scheme by Theo Crosby , of

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726-523: The centre is located, on the way to it. The Barbican Centre's design – a concrete ziggurat – has always been controversial and divides opinion. It was voted "London's ugliest building" in a Grey London poll in September 2003. In September 2001, arts minister Tessa Blackstone announced that the Barbican Centre complex was to be a Grade II listed building . It has been designated a site of special architectural interest for its scale, its cohesion and

759-766: The final competition was held that year. The loss of the Carl Flesch competition was described in 2003 by Malcolm Layfield, director of the strings department at the Royal Northern College of Music , as "a gap in the UK's contribution". It is not related to the competition in Hungary first held in 1985 under the title National Carl Flesch Violin Competition, and later as the Carl Flesh International Violin Competition. A partial list of individual competitions follows. For

792-625: The identical name, it has nothing to do with the LAFF at the Barbican, and screenings are held at other cinemas in London. The Barbican Centre features in Michael Paraskos 's novel In Search of Sixpence as the home of the lead character, Geroud, and also a bar called "The Gin Bar" loosely based on the Gin Joint bar at the Barbican Centre. Bladee 's music video for his song Like a Virgin

825-687: The site. The Museum of London is nearby at Aldersgate , and is also within the Barbican Estate. The annual London Australian Film Festival (LAFF), supported by the Australian Film Commission (AFC), was formerly held at the Barbican Theatre, from March 1994 until the 17th edition in 2011. In 2017, the volunteer-run London Australian Film Society founded a new festival, initially named Oz Film Festival but later renamed London Australian Film Festival. Despite

858-500: The stage canopy and drop adjustable acoustic reflectors, designed by Caruso St John, from the ceiling, as part of a £7.5 mn refurbishment of the hall. Art music magazine Gramophone still complained about "the relative dryness of the Barbican acoustic" in August 2007. The theatre was built as the London home of the Royal Shakespeare Company , which was involved in the design, but decided not to renew its contract in 2002 after claiming

891-610: The violinist as artist rather than merely virtuoso. Among his pupils were Charles Barkel , Edwin Bélanger , Norbert Brainin , Felix Galimir , Bronislaw Gimpel , Ivry Gitlis , Szymon Goldberg , Ida Haendel , Zvi (Heinrich) Haftel, Josef Hassid , Adolf Leschinski, Alma Moodie , Ginette Neveu , Yfrah Neaman , Ricardo Odnoposoff , Eric Rosenblith , Max Rostal , Henryk Szeryng , Henri Temianka , Roman Totenberg and Josef Wolfsthal , all of whom achieved considerable fame as both performers and pedagogues. He said his favorite pupil

924-528: The winner received £5000 and the other awards (in 1990) came to £10,000. A gold-mounted bow was also awarded to the winner. In the 1980s and 1990s the finals were held in the Barbican Hall , with six finalists each performing a classical and a romantic or 20th-century concerto over several days in some years. In 1992, the City of London ceased to fund the competition. Flesch tried unsuccessfully for many years to gather financial support to resurrect it, but

957-400: The winners, see the following section, which lists all the years in which the competition was held. A partial list of award winners in the competition; the instrument is violin unless otherwise stated: Sources Carl Flesch Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch , 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Flesch’s compendium Scale System

990-637: Was held at the Wigmore Hall in November. In 1968, the Carl Flesch competition was one of three international music competitions hosted in England, with a global total of sixteen competitions judging solely instrumentalists. Egon Kraus, in a 1968 review of international music competitions, commented that English violinists had been awarded eight of twelve prizes in the competition in 1956–66, including four overall winners, while considering all competitions Russian violinists performed much better. He noted that

1023-546: Was known for his solo performances in a very wide range of repertoire (from Baroque music to contemporary), gaining fame as a chamber music performer. He also taught in Bucharest (1897–1902), Amsterdam (1903–08), Philadelphia (1924–28) and Berlin (Hochschule für Musik, 1929–34). He published a number of instructional books, including Die Kunst des Violin-Spiels ( The Art of Violin Playing , 1923) in which he advocated for

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1056-416: Was officially opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth II on 3 March 1982. The Barbican Centre is also known for its brutalist architecture . The second-floor library is one of the five City of London libraries . It is one of the largest public libraries in London and has a separate arts library, a large music library and a children's library that regularly conducts free events. The Barbican Library houses

1089-502: Was the Australian Alma Moodie , who achieved great fame in the 1920s and 1930s but made no recordings and is little known today. In his memoirs he said, "there was above all Henry [i.e., Henri] Temianka, who did great credit to the [Curtis] Institute: both musically and technically, he possessed a model collection of talents." See: List of music students by teacher: C to F#Carl Flesch . One of Flesch's few recordings

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