Fiddling with Life: The Unusual Journey of Steven Staryk by Thane Lewis (review)

362 LETTERS IN CANADA 2000 relation to the history of feminism: >A riot girl ahead of her time, and simultaneously of it, Wieland anticipates many of the most interesting (and still contradictory) forms of feminist expression.= In a broader sense, it is wonderful to see such a well-conceived and highly detailed book on one aspect of the career of a Canadian artist. (LORA SENECHAL CARNEY) Thane Lewis. Fiddling with Life: The Unusual Journey of Steven Staryk Mosaic Press. 260. $18.95 Steven Staryk, born in Toronto to struggling immigrant parents, rose to be appointed concertmaster of four of the world=s major orchestras, starting with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London when he was only twenty-six years old. He taught on the performance faculties of the University of Toronto, the Royal Conservatory of Music, Oberlin College, and the University of Washington at Seattle. His name commands great respect in musical circles, and Thane Lewis=s new biography, Fiddling with Life: The Unusual Journey of Steven Staryk, written in collaboration with Staryk himself, will undoubtedly create a renewal of interest in some of the conundrums of his career. The career itself is distinguished: from London, Staryk went on to a similar position with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, after which he was invited to be concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony by conductor Jean Martinon. His final reprise of this role took place in Toronto in 1982, where musicians actually wrote letters of thanks to Andrew Davis for having appointed Steven Staryk concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony. His extensive discography and the quotes from enthusiastic reviews attest to his outstanding abilities as a violinist B and an old vinyl record in my possession entitled >A Lesson with Steven Staryk= demonstrates phenomenal clarity, accuracy, and tonal range, combined with a rhythmic drive that would be the envy of any string player. Readers may be wondering why Staryk moved around so many times. It is usual for concertmasters to stay many years with one orchestra, especially if it is a plum job. Here we find that below the surface of this outstanding career, there are incidents and frustrations, particularly in Canada, which propelled Staryk forward in an unplanned path. This was no privileged child of an educated, artistic house: his parents immigrated from the Ukraine in the belief that they would find a better life in Canada, but their hopes were dashed by the grim reality of the Depression. Staryk=s father committed suicide in 1934, when Steven was two, in despair at the hopelessness of his life. Staryk=s first violin was paid for out of his stepfather=s wages from a summer fruit-picking job in rural Ontario. The struggle continued even after Staryk=s remarkable abilities were HUMANITIES 363 recognized. The biography gives an interesting and detailed account of how he lost his first job as a section player with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in the infamous >Symphony Six= incident. The orchestra was due to go on tour to the United States in 1952, the zenith of the McCarthy era, when a list was given to the orchestra of musicians who were banned from entering the United States because they were accused of having ties with Communist groups. Staryk had played at various Ukrainian events organized by groups the CIA had listed as >Communist.= These performances were a way of earning much-needed money and of polishing his repertoire, but he had never been politically involved. All six musicians who were listed had their Toronto Symphony contracts summarily terminated, despite the fact that they were citizens of a country where being a Communist was not against the law. Ezra Schabas states in his biography of Sir Ernest MacMillan, who was conductor of the Toronto Symphony at this time, that MacMillan tried to intercede on Staryk=s behalf, but Staryk was certainly unaware of any move to help him, and he had to scramble for what little work he could find. It seems that in the matter of his relatively short stays with the major orchestras (two years with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, three with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and four with the Chicago Symphony) Staryk=s uncompromising standards and lack of...