Ivry Gitlis, a violinist known for fierce and powerfully individual performances over the course of a career that spanned almost 90 years, died Dec. 24 in a Paris nursing home. He was 98.
His family announced the death but gave no further details.
Mr. Gitlis was best known in Israel, Europe and Asia, and he visited the United States only rarely. A 1955 performance with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, where he played the Sibelius concerto under the direction of George Szell, received scathing reviews, as did an abbreviated recital tour in 1958. After that, Mr. Gitlis would not return until 1980 and made no secret of how little he liked the American music business.
