Bronislaw Huberman

Bronislaw Huberman was one of the best violinist of late 19th and early 20th century. He was born on December 19th, 1882 in Czestochowa. He was son of a Polish Jew, a law office clerk. Up until the age of 10, Huberman took only occasional lessons. He was a student of Rosen, Michalowicz and then Isidor Lotto at the Warsaw Conservatory. He performed Spohr's 2nd Concerto when he was 7 years old. Huberman later studied in Berlin with Joachim and secretly with Charles Gregorowitch (1892). After eight months Huberman left Berlin and took a few additional lessons with Hugo Hermann in Frankfurt and Martin Marsick in Paris. His artistry had already been acclaimed in the Netherlands, Belgium, Paris and London. In London, he attracted the attention of Adelina Patti who engaged him in her concert in Vienna in January 1895 where Huberman played part of Mendelssohn's Concerto and created a sensation. A year later, he played Brahm's Concerto in the presence of the Composer who was greatly moved by the boy's performance and gave him a photograph signed with "from his grateful listener". This was followed by his first American tour (1896–7). He played with increasing success in Europe, USA and Asia. The violinist was invited twice by the city of Genoa (1903, 1909) to play Paganini's Guarnerius violin. In 1926, the city of Vienna put the Hetzendorf Palace at his permanent disposal. At that time he taught at the Vienna State Academy of Music. During the 1920s he became interested in the idea of Pan-Europa. His articles and lectures on this topic were published in a book form in 1932. When the Nazis took power in 1933, he cancelled all his engagements in Germany and explained his viewpoint to Wilhelm Furtwangler in a letter. In 1937, Huberman suffered injuries to his hands in an air crash near Sumatra however, he ultimately recovered from his inquiries. He spent the time during the World War II in United States and returned to his home in Switzerland after the war. Bronislaw Huberman died in 1947 in his residence near Vevey. After his death his library and papers were transferred to the Central Music Library in Tel Aviv where the city named a street after him.