Josef Gusikov

The concerts, at which Gusikov appeared in traditional Jewish gabardine and was generally accompanied by his relatives on bass and violins, were an extraordinary success; in Paris he was so popular that a coiffure was named after him, imitating his payot.

He is quite a phenomenon; a famous fellow, inferior to no virtuoso in the world, both in execution and feeling; he therefore delights me more with his instrument of wood and straw than many with their pianofortes.

'[3] Franz Liszt, on the other hand, was more dismissive, calling Gusikov a 'Paganini of the Boulevards' whose 'gift, one might say his genius' would have been better applied to 'inventing an agricultural instrument' whereas his 'talent, being misguided, has produced nothing but musical inanities.'

Gusikov attracted the admiration and friendship of the musicologist François-Joseph Fétis, who wrote a long article about him, based on their discussions in Brussels, in his musical dictionary.

Exhausted by his tour, Gusikov died of tuberculosis in Aachen, his last days embittered by the alleged theft of his precious instrument from his lodgings.