King of Violins

HOW CHINAS MOST CELEBRATED VIOLIN PRODIGY BECAME AN ENEMY OF STATE.The King of Violins is the heartbreaking story of Chinas most celebrated violin prodigy, Ma Sicong, who composed his first concerto at the age of 12.During his career, this gentle, dignified man composed 57 of the worlds best-known symphonies and concertos and performed in front of hundreds of sold-out audiences across the globe.Chairman Mao Zedong declared Ma Sicong a national treasure and nicknamed him The King of Violins. Soon, Chairman Maos brutal Cultural Revolution distorted the truth of Mas life and work. He is forced to wear a dunce cap, and is publicly humiliated and physically abused by cadres of Red Guards as a vile product of bourgeois thinking.Ma and his family make a breath-taking escape in the darkness to America. After Chairman Mao died in 1976, the real circumstances of Mas poignant, bittersweet life were buried in the pages of history by an embarrassed Chinese government. Eleven years later, Ma died at the age of 76 in Philadelphia.The King of Violins, written in cooperation with all of Mas remaining family members, and is the first politically balanced life story about this generous, conflicted musical genius. (Contains 89 rare vintage photographs).