Winter 2023

Top: Riverside view of Florence on opening
night. Photo by Marco Berni
Above Jelly d’Aranyi in 1923.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Right: Ruth Palmer testing acoustics at the
1901 Arts Club in London,
-Calliope Arts Archive
‘Duo sonate’. Ravel persuaded d’Aranyi to stay
on and play what were then popular Romani
melodies for him, which she did well into the
early hours of the morning. He was so taken with
her performance that he promised to compose a
concert piece for her and wrote “you have inspired
me to write a short piece of diabolical difficulty,
conjuring up the Hungary of my dreams. Since it
will be for violin, why don’t I call it Tzigane?” The
piece is indeed a challenge for the violinist and
demands to be played by throwing caution to the
wind. Ruth was certainly up to the task, showing
off the range of her instrument as well as her
own virtuosity.
Winnaretta Singer enjoyed introducing her
friends to each other and starting cultural
collaborations across the arts. For Ruth, “the
opportunity to collaborate with Claudia was
probably the biggest draw on this project.
Claudia is so knowledgeable, and she has an
artistic character that allows her to connect the
dots in a way that is instinctual. When I suggested
pieces from the repertoire, she was able to find
the connections among the various writers and
poets and activists at the time. There was an
12 Restoration Conversations • Winter 2023