Theodor Leschetizky. Notes on the Biography of an Artist and Educator, in the Light of his Relations with the Family, Friends and Pupils (Part II)

Barbara Chmara- Żaczkiewicz

Abstract

Born in 1830 at Ernest Potocki’s residence in Łańcut, died in 1915 in Dresden – Theodor Leschetizky (in Polish spelling: Teodor Leszetycki) holds a special place in Polish and European 19th-century music. He belonged to a Czech-Polish family whose members demonstrated artistic talents for many generations. He was interested in nearly all kinds of music, but had a special preference for the piano, which he studied in Vienna with Carl Czerny and Simon Sechter. He also exhibited serious interest in the educational and compositional heritage of Anton Rubinstein and Franz Liszt. Leschetizky was a concert pianist, composer and conductor. First and foremost, however, he was known as one of Europe’s most famous piano teachers in the 19th century. He is believed to have had about a thousand pupils, c. 300 of whom have been identified to date. He embarked on a pianistic career as a 15-year-old, giving performances in Vienna and the neighbouring area. Several years later, in 1852, he left with his father Józef for Petersburg, where, among others, his friend Rubinstein lived. He spent 15 years in that city, becoming a favourite and a prot.g. of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna. He gave performances at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, conducted court and public concerts, and supervised the education of musically gifted young girls – students of the famous Smolny Institute. Together with Rubinstein, he likewise contributed to the establishment of Petersburg’s Singers’ Academy, the Russian Musical Society and – in 1862 – the Petersburg Conservatory, of which he became an honorary professor toward the end of his stay in that city. He also undertook numerous concert tours, with at least two performances in Paris, as well as appearances in Austria, Germany, England and the Netherlands, in the roles of both soloist and chamber musician. In Petersburg his partner was the singer Anna Friedebourg, and later his pupil Annette Essipoff, with whom in 1878 he settled in Vienna. They gave concerts together, playing, among others, repertoire for four hands or two pianos – which brought them tremendous success. Theodor also frequently conducted the orchestra that accompanied Annette in concerts. Essipoff performed several times for the Polish audience as well, and was renowned at that time as an excellent interpreter of Chopin’s music and a mistress of the rubato. For a short time, Leschetizky was associated with Vienna Conservatory, but the rapidly growing number of pupils made him focus on private lessons. Ludwig Bösendorfer, the well-known piano manufacturer, was his long-time friend. Leschetizky’s letters to him, requesting good instruments for his students, are a valuable source for the pianist’s biography as an educator. In the late 1870s and early 1880s, Theodor led an extremely busy concert life, and together with Annette took part in several series of so-called ‘extraordinary concerts’, along with such celebrated musicians as Eugen d’Albert, Clara Schumann, Hans von Bülow, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Emil von Sauer. Though Leschetizky was well versed in the Romantic repertoire, he had the habit of ‘enriching’ the presented pieces with his own additions or deletions – which was a common practice among performers in that period. His views were resolutely conservative. He was not interested in Wagner, Bruckner and Brahms (though he admired the latter), nor even Bach (except for some virtuosic arrangements). On the other hand, he valued highly Weber, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Saint-Saëns.