Annette Kaufman discusses, A Fiddler's Tale
Event Date: July 31, 2003

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Pianist and Art Collector Annette Kaufman Discusses "A Fiddler's Tale" at Library of Congress on July 31 Annette Kaufman, pianist and art collector, discussed "A Fiddler's Tale: How Hollywood and Vivaldi Discovered Me," a book she co-wrote with her husband, violinist and art collector Louis Kaufman, at the Library of Congress at on Thursday, July 31, in the Mumford Room, James Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue S.E., in Washington, D.C.

The program, was sponsored by the John W. Kluge Center in cooperation with the Library of Congress Music Division, the University of Wisconsin Press and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. "A Fiddler's Tale: How Hollywood and Vivaldi Discovered Me" is a biographical account of two of the most fascinating figures in the music and art worlds of 20th-century America.

Kaufman was violin soloist in nearly 500 films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, such as "Casablanca," "Gone with the Wind," "The Diary of Anne Frank," "Wuthering Heights," "The Grapes of Wrath," and "Spartacus." After performing the violin solos for Ernst Lubitsch's 1934 film "The Merry Widow," Kaufman became the most sought-after violin soloist in Hollywood.

Kaufman was largely responsible for bringing the once-forgotten music of Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) to its current popularity worldwide among both classical musicians and the general population of music lovers. He made the first commercial recording of a then little-known collection of violin concertos by Vivaldi called "The Four Seasons." This recording won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1951.

In 1933, Kaufman married Annette Leibole, a pianist, who shared his passion for music, theater, and art. Together, they traveled the globe on performance, musicological research, and art collecting tours where they managed to amass a major art collection including African, Asian, and pre-Columbian pieces, as well as works by many other important modern American, Latin American and European artists. Kaufman was the first person to buy an oil painting from American abstract expressionist Milton Avery, and he urged other collectors to follow suit.

For more information about any of the fellowship, grants and programs offered by the John W. Kluge Center, contact the Office of Scholarly Programs, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue S.E., Washington, D.C. 20540-4860; telephone (202) 707-3302, fax (202) 707-3595, e-mail:

scholarly@loc.gov

or visit the web at:

Music Division

University of Wisconsin Press

The Phillips Collection