Theodor Leschetizky

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Theodor Lescheti (t) zky (before 1894)
Theodor Leschetitzky, carte de visite Emilie Bieber , Hamburg around 1880
Theodor Leschetizky, etching by Ferdinand Schmutzer , 1911

Theodor (Hermann) Lescheti (t) zky , actually Teodor Leszetycki (born June 22, 1830 in Łańcut , Galicia , then Austrian Empire ; † November 14, 1915 in Dresden ), was a Polish-Austrian pianist , composer and music teacher .

Life

In 1841 Theodor made his pianist debut with a piano concerto by Carl Czerny in Lemberg. At the age of twelve Leschetizky went to Vienna and learned piano with Carl Czerny and composition with Simon Sechter and became a piano teacher and pianist at the age of 14.

In 1854 he went to Saint Petersburg , where he founded the local conservatory in 1862 together with Anton Rubinstein . Alongside Nikolai Rubinstein, Leschetitzky is considered the ancestor of the so-called Russian piano school.

He taught in St. Petersburg until 1878 and was concertmaster at the court of Grand Duchess Helena , gave numerous concerts and also worked as a conductor . In 1878 he moved back to Vienna and was meanwhile married to the pianist Anna Jessipowa , who was his student. After the concert singer Friedburg, she was already his second wife. In 1892 he divorced and was married to Donimirska Benislawska from 1894 to 1908 and from 1908 to Marie Gabriele Rozborska.

Numerous well-known pianists were among his students, such as Ignacy Jan Paderewski , Artur Schnabel , Ossip Gabrilowitsch , Elly Ney , Mieczysław Horszowski , Benno Moiseiwitsch , Paul Wittgenstein , Ignaz Friedman , Anna Hirzel-Langenhan , Antonina Szukiewicz , Richard Buhlig , Dmitri Klimow and Mark Hambourg . Leschetizky was one of the most important and influential piano teachers of his time. Leopold Godowsky dedicated some of his studies on the Etudes (Chopin) to him . Around 1899 he also taught the singer Clara Clemens, the daughter of Mark Twain, among others .

Signature of Leschetizky on the soundboard of the concert grand No. 9625 by Bösendorfer

In 1882 Leschetizky acquired a concert grand piano from Bösendorfer (2.50 long, Viennese mechanism with patent release, straight string, no cast plate) with the number 9625. This grand piano is now restored to fit for concerts in the Clavier Salon in Göttingen and is regularly presented in concerts.

On 18 February 1906 he took twelve piano pieces for the reproduction piano Welte-Mignon in Leipzig recording studio of Welte on, seven of his own works. There is also an Edison cylinder from around 1900 on which he talks about “No life without art”.

Tomb in the Vienna Central Cemetery

He was buried in a grave of honor in the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 0, row 1, number 94).

In 1932, Leschetitzkygasse in Vienna- Währing (18th district) was named after him. There is also a street in Bad Ischl that bears his name.

A Leschetizky association with an extensive archive was founded in Bad Ischl in 1991 by Leschetizky's great-granddaughter Margeret Tautschnig and the Belgian pianist Peter Ritzen . In the Ahorn district there is a monument and a height named after him. Johannes Brahms composed his song “Guten Abend, gut 'Nacht” on the Leschetizky-Höhe .

Leschetizky-Höhe in Bad Ischl
Monument to Theodor Leschetizky in Bad Ischl

In 2010 the German Leschetizky Society was founded in Giessen. V. was founded, which has set itself the goal of making Theodor Leschetizky and his work better known in Germany. To this end, she founded her own series of books (studies, articles and materials on Leschetizky research) and began with the critical new edition of his compositions. At the suggestion of the Deutsche Leschetizky-Gesellschaft eV, the Karlsruhe Salonoper performed his comic opera “The First Fold” on the 100th anniversary of Leschetizky's death, November 14, 2015, in Gaggenau .

Works (selection)

Piano works (selection)

  • Greetings to the night Op. 1, No. 1
  • Les deux alouettes Op. 2, No. 1
  • Piano Concerto in C minor Op. 9.
  • Andante Finale for the Left Hand Op. 13 (Paraphrase on Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti), Das Klavierwerk No. 1 (arr.Muth) ISMN M-50000-398-4, Wolfgang G. Haas -Musikverlag Cologne
  • Easier Pieces (3) Op. 19.4 / 6 Motif Finlandais, Méditation Berceuse, Méditation Consolation, Das Klavierwerk No. 2 (arr.Muth) ISMN M-2054-0215-0, Wolfgang G. Haas-Musikverlag Cologne.
  • Le Doux Reve , Bararolle Napolitaine, Das Klavierwerk No. 3 (arr.Muth) ISMN M-2054-0306-5, Wolfgang G. Haas-Musikverlag Cologne.
  • Hommage a Chopin , Das Klavierwerk No. 4 (arr. Muth) ISMN M-2054-0459-8, Wolfgang G. Haas-Musikverlag Cologne.
  • From Contes de Jeunesse op. 46. Fantasy piece (Hommage à Schumann) The piano work No. 5 (arr. Muth) ISMN M-2054-1310-1 Wolfgang G. Haas-Musikverlag Cologne.
  • Marche militaire (arr.Peter Ritzen), Op. 17th
  • 6 Meditations (Livre 1) , Op. 19 1 La Melusine / 2 Reponse / 3 L'approche du printemps
  • 6 Meditations (Livre 2) , Op. 19 4 Berceuse / 5 Decouragement / 6 Consolation
  • Deux Mazurkas pour piano Op. 24.
  • 2 pieces , op. 35; No. 1 Le bal d'hier (Mazurka Reverie) / no. 2 souvenir d'Ischl (Valse)
  • Suite op. 36; Aria (dedicated to Anton Rubinstein ), Op. 36, No. 1
  • Suite "A la Campagne", Op. 40 1st Jeux de ondes / 2. Romance / 3. Primula veris / 4. A la Mazurka / 5. Danse a la russe
  • 2 pieces , op. 35; No. 1 Le bal d'hier (Mazurka Reverie) / no. 2 souvenir d'Ischl (Valse)
  • From 4 pieces op 44; Intermezzo en octaves (dedicated to Maurizio Rosenthal), Op. 44, No. 4th
  • Contes de Jeunesse Suite , Op. 46 1. Berceuse / 2. So danced Mama / 3. Complicated story / 4. Moment de tristesse / 5. Homage to C. Czerny (Toccata) / 6. Impromptu en souvenir de Henselt / 7. Fantasy piece (homage to R. Schumann ) / 8.Gavotte a l'antica e musette moderne / 9. Homage to Chopin
  • 3 Pieces , Op. 48; No. 1 Prelude humoresque- 2 Intermezzo scherzando- 3 Etude Héroique

Chamber music

  • Variations for oboe and piano on a theme by Beethoven (opus number?).
  • From his song Cyclus: Mittagszauber for soprano and piano (text by Emanuel Geibel ) Op. 32, No. 1.

Stage works

  • The Brothers of San Marco , Opera (1848–1852), fragment.
  • The first fold (libretto: Salomon Hermann Mosenthal ), comic opera in one act (premiered in Prague in 1867).

literature

  • Angèle Potocka: "Theodor Leschetizky. A study of people and musicians from personal acquaintance". Translated from the American into German and commented on by Burkhard Muth (= studies, contributions and materials on Leschetizky research, edited by the German Leschetizky Society, Volume 2). 320 pages, 13 illustrations, Fernwald, Muth, 2nd edition 2016, ISBN 978-3-929379-41-9
  • Moritz von Bredow: rebellious pianist. The life of Grete Sultan between Berlin and New York . (Biography, 368 pp., 60 figs. - Many references to Teodor Leszetycki and Viennese musical life) Schott Music , Mainz, 2012. ISBN 978-3-7957-0800-9
  • Comtesse Angèle Potocka: Theodore Leschetizky, an intimate study of the man and the musician . New York, The Century Co., 1903
  • Annette Hullah: Theodor Leschetizky . London, Lane, 1906 (Reprinted 1923).
  • Burkhard Muth: Theodor Leschetizky - the most important piano teacher the world has ever seen ? An introduction to the life, work and work of the teacher, pianist and composer. Fernwald, Muth 2003, ISBN 3-929379-09-0 .
  • Burkhard Muth (ed.): "Theodor Leschetizky - his last years, fame and post-fame". With the notes "From the life of Leschetizky" by Eugenie Leschetizky (= studies, contributions and materials on Leschetizky research, edited by the German Leschetizky Society, Volume 3). 279 pages, 55 illustrations, Fernwald, Muth 2019, ISBN 978-3-929379-48-8
  • Malwine Brée : The basis of the Leschetizky method. Edited by his assistant Malwine Brée with the authorization of the master . With 47 illustrations of Leschetitsky's hand. (numerous editions).
  • Malwine Brée : The Leschetizky method: a guide to fine and correct piano playing . Mineola, New York 1997.
  • Stanislaw Tichonow: Leschetizky and his Vienna circle. His life and work . Volume I. Theodor Leschetizky Society, Vienna 2001.
  • Antonicek:  Leschetitzky Theodor. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1972, p. 154.
  • Christa Harten-Flamm:  Leschetizky, Theodor. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-428-00195-8 , p. 325 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Theodor Leschetizky  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Theodor Hermann Leschetitzky in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
  2. ^ Entry in the Encyclopædia Britannica , accessed on September 2, 2010
  3. ↑ Merriam-Webster's collegiate encyclopedia, Merriam-Webster 2000, p. 938. online here
personal data
SURNAME Leschetizky, Theodor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Leszetycki, Theodor; Leszetycki, Teodor; Leschetitzky, Theodor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish-Austrian composer, pianist and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH June 22, 1830
PLACE OF BIRTH Łańcut
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1915
Place of death Dresden