Helmut Zacharias

Born on 27 January 1920 in Berlin, Germany, Helmut Zacharias died on 28 February 2002. This violinist, arranger, composer and band leader grew up in the German capital. His father, a professional violinist, presented him with a toy instrument at the age of three; it was soon exchanged for a genuine violin, allowing Zacharias to appear on the cabaret stage of the Faun on Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse by the time he reached six. At eleven he broadcast Mozart’s Violin Concerto In G Major on radio and quickly extended his performances to concert halls across Germany. When he turned seventeen, Zacharias acquired a Hammig violin using the prize money from a Fritz Kreisler Award. In 1941 he cut a swing session at the Odeon Studio on Schlesische Strasse, only to be conscripted into the German army shortly afterward.

After the war he worked with several ensembles before establishing his own orchestra, which gained widespread popularity throughout Europe. One of his major successes, the 1956 release ‘When The White Lilacs Bloom Again’—an adaptation of the German song ‘Wenn Der Weisse Flieder Wieder Bluht’—came close to the American Top 10. In the late fifties Zacharias made his home in Ascona in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. Early in the following decade he achieved recognition in Britain through a series of well-received albums issued variously under the names “with Orchestra” and “with Magic Violins.” Among the latter was ‘Love Is Like A Violin’, a substantial hit on the Continent that was nevertheless kept from the UK charts by a competing version recorded by singing comedian Ken Dodd in 1960. Four years later Zacharias reached the British Top 10 without opposition with ‘Tokyo Melody’, a piece he composed together with Heinz Hellmer and Lionel Bart that served as the theme for the 1964 Olympic Games, the first Games staged in Asia.

Zacharias maintained his popularity by blending current pop tunes with light classical works, delivered in an easy, swinging manner that always featured his violin. His collection of greatest hits featured such numbers as ‘Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White’, ‘Under The Linden Tree’, and one of his own most appealing pieces, ‘Blue Blues’. He ceased performing in the nineties and endured Alzheimer’s disease in the period leading up to his death.