Childhood in Fragments, A

‘My memory basket holds the fragments of my childhood. Some of them, like splinters, have cut deep into my soul.’

In this searingly personal and deeply moving memoir, world-renowned violinist Gidon Kremer rediscovers his early years in Soviet Latvia. His vivid reminiscences, coupled with his childhood diaries, conjure up the boy Gidon finding his place in the world – and his voice as a musician – under multiple pressures. His father has never recovered from losing thirty-five members of his family in the Nazi persecutions; his mother is desperate for her son to fulfil the dreams she has been denied. And the Soviet educational production line, ideologically obstinate and openly antisemitic, only intensifies the stresses of adolescence and unrequited love.

Self-scrutinising and fiercely individualistic, A Childhood in Fragments is a stunning account of the life, times and struggles of one of the most outstanding musicians of our age – now translated into English for the first time.