Adolph Baller

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Adolph Baller (born July 30, 1909 in Brody , Austria-Hungary , † January 23, 1994 in Palo Alto , California ) was an Austrian - American pianist who became internationally known primarily through his collaboration with the violinist Yehudi Menuhin .

Baller's hometown of Brody, which is now in Ukraine , was part of the Crown Land of Galicia of the Danube Monarchy at the time of his birth . His family recognized and encouraged his musical talent early on. The young baller was sent to Vienna at the age of eight to continue his music and piano training with Malwine Brée , Angelo Kessissoglu and Hugo Kauder . As a child prodigy, he made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic at the age of 13, at the age of 17 he had all 32 Beethoven sonatas in his repertoire and subsequently performed with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and other orchestras in Europe as well as at the Salzburg Festival . He accompanied well-known vocal soloists such as Maria Jeritza or Michael Bohnen at their recitals. From 1931 he continued his studies in Berlin with Alexander Borowsky , after 1933 he was back in Vienna.

After the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany Baller was established in early 1938 because of his Jewish descent from Nazis abused. When the perpetrators - later reports said they were regular members of the Wehrmacht - recognized from his passport that Baller was a pianist, they maltreated his hands and broke his right index finger. Presumably through the intervention of the Polish envoy, who had been notified by Baller's fiancé Edith Strauss-Neustadt - Baller was still a Polish citizen at the time - the Nazis released him, seriously injured. After a hospital stay, he left Austria with her and went to Budapest . There he married Edith and together with her continued the flight via Yugoslavia to the USA; he was the only one in his family to survive the Shoah . As a result of the atrocities he suffered, his memory performance while playing the piano had also suffered, so he had to give up his career as a soloist.

In New York Baller managed to resume his musical career. Among other things, he worked as a pianist for the radio station WQXR and got to know Yehudi Menuhin in this way. In early 1941 Baller lived with his wife Edith and daughter Nina on Menuhin's property "Alma" in Los Gatos, California. During the Second World War he appeared with him in concerts for the army, which they led to the Aleutian Islands and the South Pacific. For many years he was his preferred companion at concerts and lecture evenings all over the world.

The ALMA trio

Baller lived with the Menuhins in Alma and founded the Alma Trio, named after the town, under their patronage in 1943 with the cellist Gábor Rejto and the violinist Jenö Lener . It consisted of a changing composition with the violinists Roman Totenberg , Maurice Wilk and Andor Toth until 1986 and became a style-defining element for chamber music on the concert stage. The ensemble gave concerts around the globe - up to 300 performances a year. After 17 years with the trio, Baller retired in 1970.

1950 moved shooting with his family to Palo Alto and worked for 31 years as a teacher of piano and chamber music at the Stanford University and at the Conservatory of San Francisco (San Francisco Conservatory of Music) and at the Dominican College in San Rafael (now Dominican University of California). Because he also gave private lessons, he often only had time after 10 p.m. for his own piano exercises. His students included William Corbett Jones , Roy Bogas , Gita Karaski , Patricia Michaelian and Jerome Rose .

Baller died of kidney failure in 1994.

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personal data
SURNAME Baller, Adolph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian-American pianist
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Brody (Ukraine)
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1994
Place of death Palo Alto