The beautiful violin solo in the Scherzo of Schumann's Fourth Symphony, just released, is performed by Siegfried Borries, at that time First Konzertmeister of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Born in Münster in 1912, he studied violin with, among others, Bram Eldering at the Cologne School of Music. In 1932, he won both the International Grand Prix awarded in Vienna and the Mendelssohn Prize granted by the Berlin Academy of Music.
At the age of just 21, Furtwängler appointed him Konzertmeister of the Berlin Philharmonic, where he succeeded Henry Holst. He left the orchestra at the end of 1941, and became guest Konzertmeister at the Berlin Staatskapelle conducted by Karajan. He rejoined the Philharmonic in July 1945. Distancing himself from the Orchestra in 1957, he left for good in 1961.
From 1946 onwards, he gave masterclasses at the Berlin International Music Institute, and taught violin at the Berlin Musikhochschule from 1948. He died in 1980.
Siegfried Borries, Munich, May 1953