From Yorkville to Cafe Society
Sketched by a fan.
When Anton Karas zither score from the 1949 film “The Third Man” became a worldwide sensation, Toni began to play solo; performing music ranging from the continental repertoire, Hungarian, Rumanian and Russian songs to classical pieces, the American songbook and Broadway and pop songs of the day. In order to play alone, she had to invent a new approach to the instrument.
Traditionally, the cimbalom is an ensemble player, contributing obligatos, embellishments and and cadenzas. The concert cimbalom is a chromatic instrument with great range; and with these resources, Toni recast the instrument's function in an orchestral mold, like that of a piano. Of necessity she had to adapt and arrange most of the music she played to work in this context and with the strict demands of this difficult instrument. This crafting called on her wonderful ears, taste, instinctive musicality and can-do spirit. She attracted a substantial following in New York, and soon was playing in venues favored by Café Society and the elite, among them, Billy Reed’s legendary Little Club, Peacock Alley, Café De La Paix and The New York Athletic Club as “Toni and her Cimbalom.”
Traditionally, the cimbalom is an ensemble player, contributing obligatos, embellishments and and cadenzas. The concert cimbalom is a chromatic instrument with great range; and with these resources, Toni recast the instrument's function in an orchestral mold, like that of a piano. Of necessity she had to adapt and arrange most of the music she played to work in this context and with the strict demands of this difficult instrument. This crafting called on her wonderful ears, taste, instinctive musicality and can-do spirit. She attracted a substantial following in New York, and soon was playing in venues favored by Café Society and the elite, among them, Billy Reed’s legendary Little Club, Peacock Alley, Café De La Paix and The New York Athletic Club as “Toni and her Cimbalom.”
