Emanuel Feuermann

Emanuel Feuermann

Emanuel Feuermann(November 22, 1902 – May 25, 1942) was an internationally celebratedcellistin the first half of the 20th century.

Life

Feuermann was born in 1902 in Kolomyja, Galicia,Austro-Hungarian Empire(nowKolomyia,Ukraine) to Jewish parents. Both of his parents were amateur musicians. His father, who played theviolinand cello, was his first teacher. His older brother Sigmund was also musically talented, and their little sister, Sophie (born January 1908) was the piano prodigy in the family. Their father decided to move the family to Vienna in 1907 for Sigmund to start his professional career there. At the age of nine, Emanuel received lessons fromFriedrich Buxbaum,principal cello of theVienna Philharmonic,and then studied withAnton Walterat theUniversity of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.In February 1914, the eleven-year-old prodigy made his concert debut, playingJoseph Haydn'sCello Concerto in D majorwith the Vienna Philharmonic underFelix Weingartner.

External audio
Feuermann performingJohannes Brahms'Double Concertoin A minor for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, Op. 102 withJascha Heifetz,Eugene Ormandyconducting thePhiladelphia Orchestrain 1939
Feuermann performingFranz Schubert's Trio No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 99 with Jascha Heifetz andArthur Rubinsteinin 1941

In 1917, Feuermann went to Leipzig to study with legendary cellistJulius Klengel.In 1919 cellist Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Grützmacher (1866–1919), the nephew ofFriedrich Grützmacher,died, and Klengel recommended Feuermann for Grützmacher's position at the Gürzenich Conservatory in Cologne.He was also appointed principal cellist of theGürzenich Orchestra,by its conductor (who was also the conservatory director),Hermann Abendroth.Feuermann became cellist of the Bram Elderling Quartet. At that time, he also joined a short-lived piano trio with his brother and pianist-conductorBruno Walter.In 1929, Feuermann became professor at theMusikhochschulein Berlin and taught there for the next four years. He performed during this time with violinistsCarl Flesch,Szymon Goldberg,Joseph Wolfsthal and composerPaul Hindemith,the latter playingviolain a string trio with Feuermann and Wolfsthal (later Goldberg; see below). He also performed withJascha Heifetz,William PrimroseandArthur Rubinstein.

On April 3, 1933, the newly installedNaziregime dismissed him from his position at the Berlin Conservatory due to his Jewish heritage. He moved to London along with Goldberg and Hindemith, where the trio recorded Beethoven's early Serenade in D major for string trio, Op. 8, and a string trio by Hindemith, forColumbia Records.He toured Japan and the United States then returned to London, where he married Eva Reifenberg (a cousin ofKatja Andy) in 1935, with whom he had a daughter, Monica. Following the premiere ofArnold Schoenberg's Cello Concerto under SirThomas Beechamhe lived for some time in Zürich, but happened to be in Vienna at the time of the 1938Anschluss.ViolinistBronisław Hubermanhelped Feuermann and his family escape toBritish Palestine.From there they moved to the United States later that year.

He taught privately, and at theCurtis Institute of Musicin Philadelphia, until his death. During these years he collaborated with the pianistVladimir Sokoloff.Among his notable pupils wereBernard Greenhouse,Suzette Forgues Halasz,Florence Hooton,Robert Lamarchina,Alan Shulman,David SoyerandAugust Wenzinger.In the United States, he made several celebrated chamber-music recordings with Heifetz, Rubinstein and others. His relationship with Hindemith suffered when the latter choseGregor Piatigorskyto premiere his Cello Concerto.

Feuermann died in New York City due to complications during surgery on May 25, 1942, at the age of 39.

Evaluation

External audio
Feuermann performingJohannes Brahms' Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8, with violinist Jasha Heifetz and pianistArthur Rubinsteinin 1941

Klengel wrote of Feuermann, "Of all those who have been entrusted to my guardianship, there has never been such a talent...our divinely favoured artist and lovable young man."Heifetz declared that talent like Feuermann's comes once every one hundred years.Indeed, after Feuermann's untimely death it took seven years for Heifetz to collaborate with another cellist,Gregor Piatigorsky.

Artur Rubinstein was equally emphatic: "He became for me the greatest cellist of all times, because I did hearPablo Casalsat his best. He (Casals) had everything in the world, but he never reached the musicianship of Feuermann. And this is a declaration. "Both Heifetz and Rubinstein were longtime trio partners with Feuermann. During his first tour of the United States in 1935–36, Feuermann reaped enthusiastic reviews from music critics.After a 1938Promsperformance in London, critic Reid Steward ofThe Stradwrote "I do not think there can any longer be doubt that Feuermann is the greatest living cellist,Casalsalone excepted... "

The honorary pallbearers at his funeral included some of the greatest musicians of the time: pianistsRudolf SerkinandArtur Schnabel,violinistsMischa ElmanandBronisław Huberman,and conductorsGeorge Szell,Eugene OrmandyandArturo Toscanini.During the procession Toscanini broke down crying, exclaiming, "This is murder!" In 1954, when asked which cellists he particularly admired, Casals said, "What a great artist Feuermann was! His early death was a great loss to music."

Feuermann's cello

In 1929, Feuermann purchased a cello made byDavid Tecchlerin Rome in 1741.From 1932, he also owned an instrument made by Venetian master luthierDomenico Montagnanain 1735. This instrument, known as the Feuermann cello, is presently in the hands of a Swiss cellist and collector.It was larger and wider than the Tecchler.

Feuermann later owned theDe Munck Stradivariuscello of 1730. It was previously owned by the distinguished Brazilian-American cellist, Aldo Parisot, and was on extended loan from theNippon Foundationto cellistSteven Isserlisfrom 1998 to 2011, and it is currently on loan toCamille Thomassince 2019.

Feuermann is also said to have owned and played aGoffrillercello later owned by American cellistJoseph Schuster;from Schuster, it was passed on toJascha Silberstein.

Discography

Feuermann is featured on recordings including:

• The Art of Emanuel Feuermann(1969)
• The English Columbias, Vol. 1(1990)
• The English Columbias, Vol. 2(1990)
• The English Columbias, Vol. 3(1991)
• The Emanuel Feuermann Edition: The Complete English Columbia Recordings & Early German Parlophone Recordings(2016)

Further reading

• Ennulat, Egbert M., ed. (1991).Arnold Schoenberg Correspondence. A Collection of Translated and Annotated Letters Exchanged with Guido Adler, Pablo Casals, Emanuel Feuermann and Olin Downes.Metuchen: Scarecrow Press.ISBN0-8108-2452-3.
• Itzkoff, Seymour W. (1979).Emanuel Feuermann, Virtuoso. A Biography. With Notes on Interpretation by Emanuel Feuermann and A Discography of Feuermann Recordings by Fred Calland and Seymour W. Itzkoff.University of Alabama Press.ISBN0-8173-6450-1.
• Smith, Brinton (1998).The physical and interpretive technique of Emanuel Feuermann(Thesis (D.M.A)).Juilliard School of Music.OCLC39227313.Retrieved2008-07-29.

External links

• "Notes on InterpretationArchived2007-10-08 at theWayback Machine"by Emanuel Feuermann (1995, 2nd edition),Cello.org.
• Battey, Robert. "Emanuel Feuermann – An Appreciation",Cello.org.
• Feuermann performingonYouTube,Antonín Dvořák's Rondo in G minor, Op. 94, andDavid Popper's Spinning Song in D major, with piano accompaniments by Theodore Saidenberg
• Emanuel Feuermann collection, circa 1914–1942,Archival records, Music Division,Library of Congress