Music: Violinist from the Dnieper

For weeks before the running, the odds were on the Russians to sweep the field in Belgium's first postwar revival of its violin international—the Concours Eugène Ysaÿe, this year renamed for Queen Mother Elisabeth. There was a notable precedent : brilliant Soviet Violinist David Oistrakh (TIME, Aug. 2, 1948) won the grand prize in the first contest in 1937. Moreover, the simple fact that the Russians entered meant that they were confident their violinists were good enough to win.

Last week the advance odds turned out to be right: the Russian favorites took...