Claudio José Domingo Brindis de Salas Garrido

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Claudio Brindis de Salas has been one of the most famous Cuban violinists of all time.

Winner of the 1st prize at the Paris Conservatory, he was the first Cuban to perform on a Russian stage, San Petersburgo, 1880.

He held the title of Baron of Salas, and was also known as "The Cuban Paganini" or "The King of the Octaves".

He led a disorderly and bohemian life that brought him a sad end. He was a distinguished violinist, double bass player, and dance orchestra conductor.

This talented musician formed an orchestra called La Concha de Oro, a typical or wind orchestra that was the most popular in the dance halls of Havana at the beginning of the 19th century. His performances at popular dances and in high-society salons were highly sought after, where they performed contradanzas, rigodons, minuets and other genres of that time.

He created dances with a marked creole essence, dedicated in their majority, almost always, to different figures of the Cuban aristocracy of the time.

His father, Luis Brindis, was first sergeant of the Royal Artillery Corps.

He began his music studies with his father, continued them with José Redondo and completed them with the Belgian José Van der Gutch. From a very young age Claudio received the support of influential and wealthy people of the time, who supported and encouraged him in his music studies. He was a student of Master Ignacio Calvo.

Brindis de Salas was also the author of an operetta with great creole flavor titled "Congojas matrimoniales".

In 1863 he performed for the first time before the Havana public at the Liceo de La Habana with José Van der Gutch as an accompanying pianist, a performance in which Ignacio Cervantes also acted; in 1864 he toured with his father and his brother José del Rosario, also a violinist, through the cities of Matanzas, Cárdenas, Santa Clara, Cienfuegos and Güines.

In 1869 he traveled to Mexico and settled in Veracruz, where he gave concerts organized by Joaquín Gaztambide. From Mexico he moved to Paris and there he studied with Ernesto Camilo Sivori, Hubert Leonard and Charles Dancla.

In 1870 he performed in the Paris Conservatory competition and won an accessit; in 1871 he obtained the first prize —in the competition of this Conservatory, Henri Wieniasky had obtained first prizes in 1846, José White in 1856, and Pablo de Sarasate in 1857; later Fritz Kreisler would in 1887, Jacques Thibaud in 1896, and George Enescu in 1899, there would not be another Cuban to obtain this prize until Niurka González Núñez did so in flute in 1996.

He then toured Europe, which included Florence, Turin and Milan, where he performed at the famous Scala di Milano.

These performances in Europe were endorsed by the enthusiasm of the public and critics. «...as years went by, there would be no shortage of critics who would allude to his extraordinary command of the audience, to the enthusiasm that his interpretation always provoked, to the fiery temperament that characterized his execution, to his good taste, purity of intonation and virtuosity; but the truth is that those qualities that distinguished his interpretation were already possessed by Brindis when he burst onto the European violin world».

In 1875 he returned to America and was appointed director of the Haiti Conservatory. He performed in 1877 at the Payret theater, where he was accompanied by José Van der Gutch on piano.

In 1878 he gave a concert at the Cuban Philharmonic Society of Santiago de Cuba, returned to Havana and subsequently traveled to Veracruz with the purpose of giving concerts and recitals; in the Mexican capital he performed at the Arbeu theater, where he performed the Violin Concerto and Orchestra by German composer Félix Mendelssohn.

In 1880 he traveled to Russia; in 1881 he performed in San Petersburgo. In 1884 he moved to Germany, and in 1886 he returned to Havana, where he played at the Grand Theater.

In 1887 he performed in New York and in 1889 he traveled to Barcelona. In 1890 he returned to Cuba and in 1894 he returned to Veracruz to perform at the Principal Theater.

In 1895 he performed in Havana at the Albisu Theater and then departed on a tour whose final destination would be Europe, on the journey he performs in Santo Domingo and in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In 1896 he performed in Montecristi, and in Port of Spain, Trinidad-Tobago; in 1897 he arrived in Kingston, Jamaica. In 1902 he traveled to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and gave a recital at the Santa Cruz theater; that same year he returned to Cuba, where he gave a concert at the Principal theater of Havana, later he returns to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a trip he repeats in 1903.

In 1911 he went to Ronda, Spain, where he gave his last concert at the Espinel theater. From Spain he moved to Argentina, and there he concluded his career.

Regarding Brindis de Salas's qualities as a violinist, a critic expressed: «...violinists like the Cubans Salas and White, who exercised teaching in Caracas [¿?], and left the mark of their invaluable teachings [...]. If Brindis de Salas was a figure in the historic Pasdeloup Concerts —founded precisely by Julios Pasdeloup (1819-1887) great orchestra conductor—, where the brilliant Cuban performed as a soloist; and if, alongside Patti (Adelina) he presented himself as a high artistic figure; if Mazzucato directed him in Milan, in the regal theater of Turin and in the Fenice of Genoa; if in Berlin the most aggressive critic calls him "the king of the octaves", if the Parisian critic Oscar Commentant, celebrated figure of the press, is enraptured by the remarkable virtuoso and writes that "the violin was created for him", if Leonard, great master of the bow, Charles Dancla and David acclaim him, despite being a black musician from these latitudes and are amazed by this great concert performer, it was because in reality he was».

Some of his works
La simpatizadora, 1863, dance.
Variations on a theme by Master Rodolfo.

Death
After having led an exceptionally triumphant life he died on September 2, 1911 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, poor and forgotten in a modest inn. He was buried in a common grave. In 1917 the Argentine newspaper La Razón began a collection to give the musician a dignified burial.

In May 1930 his remains were brought to Cuba and buried in the pantheon of the Musical Solidarity of Havana.