Violinist from the Dnieper

For weeks before the running, the odds were on the Russians to sweep the field in Belgium's first postwar revival of its violin international--the Concours Eugene Ysaye, this year renamed for Queen Mother Elisabeth. There was a notable precedent : brilliant Soviet Violinist David Oistrakh (TIME, Aug. 2, 1948) won the grand prize in the first contest in 1937. Moreover, the simple fact that the Russians entered meant that they were confident their violinists were good enough to win.

Last week the advance odds turned out to be right: the Russian favorites took first and second in a field of 26 of the world's best young (15 to 30) performers. A Hungarian girl, who now lives in Switzerland, came third, a Dutchman fourth.

From the first preliminaries, there was little doubt among spectators or judges (among them: Violinist Jacques Thibaud, Oistrakh himself) as to the winner. Leonid Kogan, 26, native of Dnepropetrovsk, sounded brilliantly above the rest. But all four Russian entrants were among the twelve who survived the first high hurdles --a Bach sonata, a sonata by Ysaye, the great Belgian violinist (1858-1931), two concertos and six pieces of the contestants' choosing.

Between the preliminaries and the finals, the Russians stuck strictly to business, practiced hard. In the quiet music academy outside Brussels where the finalists were lodged, the Russians rose at 6, often started playing before breakfast. Said Houston, Tex. Violinist Fredell Lack, 29: "And you could hear them still going at night when the rest of us went to bed." Exasperated Dutchman Theo Olaf finally complained: "Is it absolutely necessary for you to practice until the middle of the night?" The Russians, who had been aloof at first but warmed up a bit when they asked for borsch and got a Belgian version of it, agreed to cut out some of their night work.

The audiences at the finals vigorously applauded all the ultimate prizewinners, including Second Prizewinner Mikhail Vayman, 24, Third Prizewinner Elisabeth Cserfalvi, 25, and Fourth Prizewinner Olaf. But the biggest crowd came out on the last afternoon for Leonid Kogan. By the time he had glided masterfully through the perilous Paganini Concerto in D Major, the Bruxellois were yelling bravo. Kogan grinned, bowed quickly and walked off into a flood of backstage congratulations. The judges' decision an hour later confirmed what everyone already knew: Kogan had won hands down.

His prize: 150,000 Belgian francs ($2,970), a prearranged 65-concert tour of Western Europe.

At week's end, Brussels music lovers got a rare dividend: a performance by the great David Oistrakh himself. Wearing his Stalin Prize medal, 42-year-old Oistrakh hypnotized them with a splendid playing of Bach's double concerto (with Belgian Violinist Arthur Grumiaux). At the end, the audience, including Queen Mother Elisabeth, stood and gave a four-minute ovation to the man who is Russia's finest violinist, and surely one of the finest in the world. It was his first performance in Western Europe in 14 years.

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