The King of Violins. M.G. Crisci

HOW CHINA&#39;S MOST CELEBRATED VIOLIN PRODIGY BECAME AN ENEMY OF THE STATE.<br><br>The King of Violins is the heartbreaking story of China&#39;s most celebrated violin prodigy, Ma Sicong, who composed his first concerto at the age of 12. <br><br>During his career, this gentle, dignified man composed 57 of the world&#39;s best-known symphonies and concertos and performed in front of hundreds of sold-out audiences across the globe. <br><br>Chairman Mao Zedong declared Ma Sicong &quot;a national treasure&quot; and nicknamed him The King of Violins. Soon, Chairman Mao&#39;s brutal Cultural Revolution distorted the truth of Ma&#39;s life and work. He is forced to wear a dunce cap, and is publically humiliated and physically abused by cadres of Red Guards as &quot;a vile product of bourgeois thinking.&quot;<br><br>Ma and his family make a breath-taking escape in the darkness to America. After Chairman Mao died in 1976, the real circumstances of Ma&#39;s 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.<br><br>The King of Violins, written in cooperation with all of Ma&#39;s remaining family members, and is the first politically-balanced life story about this generous, conflicted musical genius. <br><br>