22.06.2020

Today we mark the 190th birth anniversary of Polish pianist and composer Theodor Leschetitzky

On June 22, is the190th birth anniversary of Theodor Leschetitzky (1830-1915) - the prominent Polish pianist, composer and talented teacher.

Leschetitzky went down in the history of music, first, as the endowed teacher - he brought up a brilliant assemblage of outstanding pianists, and among them are Anna Yesipova, Ethel Leginska, Mark Hambourg, Elly Ney, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Ignacy Friedman and others. Overall, he raised more than thousand pianists, many of them managed to build a successful pianistic career, they performed on concert stages and toured in the first half of the 20th century. The unique recordings of Theodor Leschetitzky apprentices’ performance (in particular their playing the works of his authorship) are presented in the museum Collection music library.

As for the repertoire of Leschetitzky himself, one can note the pianist’s great love for Beethoven’s music, which Carl Czerny once instilled in him, as well as his successful performance of Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, and Ferenc Liszt works. It was thanks to Leschetitzky that after a long break, sonatas by Franz Schuber appeared in the pianists’ concert repertoire.

We have prepared a musical compilation for the composer's anniversary, recorded from paper music rolls Duo-Art, in which the works of Theodore Leschetitzky and his author's arrangements sound. Among the performers are the leading pianists of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, Ethel Leginska, Mark Hambourg, and Ossip Gabrilowitsch.

The biography of the composer is in the section “Authors".