20/10/2025
On Friday the 17th the renowned Italian violinist Paolo Ghidoni gave a special concert in honor of Mary de Rachewiltz and Olga Rudge. The program included works by Gluck, Bach, Milstein and Vivaldi. Maestro Ghidoni, first violin in ensembles like the Amsterdam Orlando Quartet and the Virtuosi Italiani, explained to the audience gathered in the «Knights Room» in Brunnenburg, how in his mind Bach’s music can be compared to Pound’s «Cantos», both trying to go beyond whatever had been achieved before. Vivaldi's «Winter» was dedicated especially to the memory of Olga Rudge, who together with Pound was largely responsible for the post-war Vivaldi-renaissance in Italy.
At the end of the concert , after a stunning performance of Bach’s Partita no. 2 in D minor by maestro Ghidoni, Prof. Holly Peterson from Guilford College handed Mary de Rachewiltz the honorary degree which Guilford has awarded her for her achievements as a poet, translator and educator. This is the second time Mary has been made a doctor of humane letters «honoris causa».
