Willy Levin

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Willy Levin (* 1860 in Stolp ; † November 19, 1926 ) was a German art patron and merchant .

Life

Levin came to Berlin in 1885, where he and his brother opened a clothing store. The proceeds from the prosperous business enabled him to continue his musical education as a singer and, as a patron, to financially support numerous important and less well-known artists of his time. His salon became a meeting point for the Berlin cultural scene, where Hans Pfitzner , Hugo von Hofmannsthal , Max Reinhardt and Richard Strauss , among others , frequented. The latter, with whom he was close friends, set a musical monument for him in the figure of the Skat-playing Kommerzienrat in the opera Intermezzo (Strauss) . Levin was also heavily involved in the preparations for the world premiere of Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos , which was originally supposed to take place in Berlin, but was then relocated to Stuttgart. He had a close friendship with Josef Ruederer , who benefited from Levin's diplomatic skills when he advocated the premieres of the dramas and mediated between the playwright and the director Max Reinhardt.

literature

  • Hettche, Walter: "... that a person of your kind is in the world." The Berlin art sponsor Willy Levin: with previously unprinted letters from Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Richard Strauss and Josef Ruederer. In: Berliner Hefte zur Geschichte des literar Lebens 1 (1996), pp. 9–24.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Levin, Willy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art patron and merchant
DATE OF BIRTH 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Stumble
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1926