Josef Wolfsthal

Josef Wolfsthal in Berlin, Germany, circa 1922

Josef Wolfsthal (12 June 1899 – 3 February 1931), born as Josef Wolfthal, was an Austrian violinist and a professor in Germany's capital Berlin.

He was born into a musical family in Vienna.[1] It was of Galician origin. His father and his older brother Max (* 1896) both played the violin. His father was an excellent violin teacher so for the first years he gave his sons fundamental lessons. He also taught Sigmund Feuermann (1900–1952). From the age of 10, Josef Wolfsthal studied for six years with famed Hungarian violin teacher Carl Flesch, and at age 16 he began giving public performances.[2] His debut was on April 7, 1916 with Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Camillo Hildebrand (1876–1953). There he performed the Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor, BWV 1043 by Johann Sebastian Bach with his teacher Carl Flesch. After that Flesch administered him some time as an orchestra member in order to teach him some more discipline.

Wolfsthal was playing at the very first performance of Ein Heldenleben by Richard Strauss. He was also performing in the very first record of Molière's Le bourgeois gentilhomme by Strauss.

Academy of Music in Berlin in 1928, where Wolfsthal was a professor between 1926 and 1931

Wolfsthal began in Bremen as head of the orchestra in succession of Georg Kulenkampff (1898–1948). Later he moved to the Swedish capital Stockholm until he got assigned as head of the very best German orchestra of the time which was the orchestra of Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Germany's capital Berlin. He was a protégé of composer Richard Strauss who often conducted this orchestra. When he was 26 Wolfsthal became a professor at Music Academy in Berlin. Some of his students were Szymon Goldberg (1909–1993) and Marianne Liedtke who later named herself Maria Lidka (1914–2013) when she had emigrated to United Kingdom.

Wolfsthal gave the premiere of Karl Weigl's 1928 Violin Concerto.[3] He played in a string trio with cellist Emmanuel Feuermann and violinist and composer Paul Hindemith.[4] After his death his student Szymon Goldberg took his place in this trio.

During the 1920 many pieces of music were recorded performed by Wolfsthal. In 1928 Wolfsthal became deputy head of orchestra of Krolloper Berlin, which was led by Otto Klemperer. There he took part in the premiere of Kammermusik No. 5, op. 36 no. 4 by Hindemith. He formed a trio with pianist Leonid Kreutzer and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. The latter recommended him as a violin teacher to the young Marianne Liedtke. When Wolfsthal got the chance to go to the United States accompanying Vladimir Horowitz he failed due to his lack of discipline. He had to perform in front of Piatigorsky's manager but in the midth of his performance he abruptly started to improvise and had to laugh in a boyish manner.

He married Olga, the former wife of George Szell. Both became a daughter. After attending a funeral in Berlin in the winter of 1930, Wolfsthal caught a cold; he died several weeks later from pneumonia, aged 31.[1] His wife later married the cellist Benar Heifetz (1899–1974), the brother of famous Jascha Heifetz.

Wolfsthal's sound has been described as "tightly concentrated" and "sweet"; his style—which eschewed portamenti—as having a "spruce modernity".[5] Reviewing Wolfsthal's 1929 recording of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, the Penguin guide to compact discs wrote of his "breathtaking mastery, making one regret that this pupil of Carl Flesch died in his early thirties".[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Potter T. "Josef Wolfsthal plays Beethoven and Mozart Concertos". Retrieved January 2014.
  2. ↑ Kolneder W, Pauly RG (1998). The Amadeus book of the violin: construction, history, and music. Amadeus Press. p. 467.
  3. ↑ Haas M (2013). Forbidden Music: The Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis. Yale University Press. p. 1903. ISBN 978-0-300-15431-3.
  4. ↑ Randel DM (1996). The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-674-37299-3.
  5. ↑ Woolf J. "Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) Violin Concerto in D major Op 61; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) Violin Concerto No.5 in A major" (Review). Retrieved January 2014.
  6. ↑ March I, Greenfield E, Layton R, Chaikowsky P (2001). The Penguin guide to compact discs. Penguin. p. 129.

External links


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