Background
Leopold Auer was born on June 7, 1845 in Veszprim, Hungary.
composer conductor educator violinist
Leopold Auer was born on June 7, 1845 in Veszprim, Hungary.
Auer studied at the Vienna Conservatory and then with Joseph Joachim at Hanover.
He was a concertmaster at Düsseldorf from 1863 to 1865 and then at Hamburg for a year.
He was an occasional conductor and violin soloist at the court of the tsars and in 1894 was knighted by Nicholas II. One of his functions as court violinist was to play solos during the ballets at the imperial opera house.
Auer was noted for his interpretations of the classical concertos. Tschaikovsky wrote his violin concerto for Auer but was offended when Auer suggested revisions and changed the dedication to the violinist Adolf Brodsky. However in its final form it was influenced by Auer and became his favorite work. Also interested in chamber music, Auer founded a well-known quartet.
Afterthe February 1917 revolution, he left Russia and went to New York where he devoted himself exclusively to teaching. Many distinguished violinists were his pupils at various times in his life, including Mischa Elman, Jasha Heifetz, and Efrem Zimbalist. His method of teaching included considerable time devoted by Auer to playing during lessons.
He sought to bring out the special qualities of each student but at the same time insisted on a full understanding and respect for the violin, realizing its limitions while exploiting its potentialities.
On May 23, 1874 he married Nadine Pelikan. On June 24, 1924 he married second time to Madame Stein.