Alexander Fiedemann Explained

Alexander Fiedemann (1878–1940, Russian: Александр Петрович Фидельман) was a Russian-born German violin virtuoso and music pedagogue. His students included Mischa Elman, Toscha Seidel and Boris Kroyt.

Biography

Early life

Alexander Fiedemann was born in Kyiv, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire (today located in Ukraine) on 24 October 1878.^{[1] [2]} His birth name was Ruvim Peysakhovich Fidelman (Russian: Рувим Пéйсахович Фидельман). His father, Peysakh Fidelman, was a Klezmer and gave Alexander his first lessons starting at age 6.^[3] At age 9, he began to study under Otakar Ševčík at the Kyiv Conservatory, and at 12 he went to Leipzig to study under Adolph Brodsky at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig.^{[4] [5] [6]} Among his public performances as a student in Leipzig was an 1890 performance of a Charles Auguste de Bériot piece which earned him great acclaim in the music press.^{[7] [8]}

Music career

When Brodsky was offered a position with the New York Symphony Orchestra, he brought Alexander along with him to the United States, where he played some concerts, including at Carnegie Hall in December 1891, and some with Arthur Nikisch and his wife Amelie Heussner in 1892.^{[9] [10] [11] [12] [13]} Upon his return to Europe, starting in 1897, he became the first violin instructor at the newly founded music school (Russian: Музыкальное училище) in Odessa (which would later become the Odessa Conservatory, now known as the Odessa National A. V. Nezhdanova Academy of Music).^[14] Among his students there were Mischa Elman, Naum Blinder, Alexander Schaichet, and Joseph Cherniavsky (who was his nephew).^{[15] [16]} His brother Max Fiedemann was also a violin instructor in Odessa, known mostly for teaching Toscha Seidel for a time.

In 1907 he relocated to Berlin and soon started teaching at the Stern Conservatory, where he taught as the advanced violin instructor from 1908 to 1919.^[17] Among his students there were Boris Kroyt, Josef Roisman and Toscha Seidel.^{[18] [19]} He also established a permanent chamber quartet there, the Fiedemann-Quartett or Fiedemann String Quartet, which became very well known.^[20] And he regularly gave concerts, such as one in 1909 with Gustav Hollaender conducting an orchestra, where he played pieces by Spohr, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven.^{[21] [22]}

In December 1927 Fiedemann married Fanny Ruden. After the rise to power of the Nazi Party, they relocated to Prague.^[23] He lived his last years there in relative obscurity and died there on 28 January 1940.^[24]

Notes and References

1. Book: van der Straeten . Edmund S. J. . The history of the violin; its ancestors and collateral instruments from earliest times . 1933 . London . 407.
2. Book: von Wasielewski . Wilhelm Joseph . Die Violine und ihre Meister . 1920 . Druck und Verlag von Breitkopf & Härtel . Leipzig . de . 10.
3. Book: Zylbercweig . Zalmen . Mestel . Jacob . Leḳsiḳon fun Yidishn ṭeaṭer Vol. 2 . 1931 . Elisheva . New York . 904 . yi.
4. Book: Albrecht . Bruno . Das Königliche Conservatorium der Musik zu Leipzig. 1843-1893. . 1893 . Druck von Breitkopf & Härtel . Leipzig . 80 . 2027/uc1.c037324941?urlappend=%3Bseq=94 .
5. Book: von Wasielewski . Wilhelm Joseph . Die Violine und ihre Meister . 1920 . Druck und Verlag von Breitkopf & Härtel . Leipzig . de . 7.
6. Book: Skadovsky (Brodsky) . Anna . Recollections of a Russian Home: A Musician's Experiences . 1914 . Sherratt & Hughes . London . 144–5 . 2nd .
7. Foreign notes. . The Musical World . 1890-05-10 . 70 . 19 . 372 . 2027/hvd.32044043850221?urlappend=%3Bseq=376 . en.
8. Leipzig. . Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. . 1890 . 57 . 1 . 208 . 2027/ien.35556016028144?urlappend=%3Bseq=216 . en.
9. News: SUNDAY CONCERTS. . The New York Evening Telegram . 1891-11-23.
10. News: MUSICAL NOTES. . The New York Times . 1892-01-17.
11. Book: Schickel . Richard . Carnegie Hall, the first one hundred years . 1987 . Abrams . New York . 0810907739 . 250.
12. Web site: Куперштейн . Григорий . Из серии Одесские ребята. Наум Блиндер. Часть 1 . Журнал "Чайка" . 24 May 2021 . ru . 2016-07-01.
13. News: The Nikisch Song Recital. . The New York Evening Post . 1892-03-08.
14. Baley . Virko . Odessa . Oxford Music Online . 2001 . 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.20250.
15. Web site: Alexander Schaichet . Kammerorchester Zurich . 24 May 2021.
16. Schwarz . Boris . Campbell . Margaret . Elman, Mischa . Oxford Music Online . 2001 . 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.08739.
17. Web site: Liste der Lehrenden des Stern'schen Konservatoriums (1850–1936) . 24 May 2021 . de.
18. Book: Baker . Theodore . Remy . Alfred . Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians . 1919 . G. Schirmer . New York . 861.
19. Book: Gelatt . Roland . Music makers, some outstanding musical performers of our day. . 1972 . Da Capo Press . New York . 0306705192 . 178–80.
20. A New String Quartet. . The Music Magazine-musical Courier. . 1916 . 73 . 1 . 7 . 2027/chi.105755211?urlappend=%3Bseq=1231 . en.
21. Berlin . The Violinist: A Monthly Magazine . December 1909 . 8 . 3 . 36 . 2027/nyp.33433082166459?urlappend=%3Bseq=138 .
22. Frankenstein . Ludwig . Konzerte - Berlin . Musikalisches Wochenblatt . 1909–1910 . 76 . 2 . 479 . 2027/uc1.l0066646043?urlappend=%3Bseq=114 . en.
23. Web site: Fany Fiedemannová . Database of Victims - Holocaust . 25 May 2021.
24. News: Prof. Alexander Fiedemann. In memoriam . Jüdisches Nachrichtenblatt . 10 . 1940-03-08.