Fritz Kreisler

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Fritz Kreisler (circa 1938)

Fritz Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian (later American) violinist and composer, one of the most famous violinists of his day. Kreisler was noted for his uniquely sweet tone, and also for his expressive phrasing. He produced a characteristic sound, which was immediately recognizable as his own. His tone and phrasing were associated with the gemütlich lifestyle of pre-war Vienna.

Kreisler was born in Vienna to a Jewish father and a Roman Catholic mother; he was baptised at age twelve. He studied at the Vienna conservatory and in Paris, where his teachers included Léo Delibes, Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr., Joseph Massart, and Jules Massenet. He made his United States debut at Steinway Hall in New York on November 10, 1888, and his first tour of the United States in 1888–89 with Moriz Rosenthal, then returned to Austria and applied for a position in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. He was turned down, and left music to study first medicine, then painting. He spent a brief time in the army before returning to the violin in 1899, giving a concert with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Arthur Nikisch. It was this concert and a series of American tours from 1901 to 1903 that brought him real acclaim.

In 1910, Kreisler gave the premiere of Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto, a work dedicated to him. He briefly served in the Austrian Army in World War I before being honourably discharged after he was wounded. He spent the remaining years of the war in America. He returned to Europe in 1924, living first in Berlin, then moving to France in 1938. Shortly thereafter, at the outbreak of World War II, he settled once again in the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1943. He lived in that country for the rest of his life. He gave his last public concert in 1947 and broadcast performances for a few years after that. Towards the end of his life, he was in an auto accident and spent his last days blind and deaf from that accident, but he "radiated a gentleness and refinement not unlike his music," according to Archbishop Fulton Sheen who visited him frequently during that time. Kreisler and his wife were converts to Catholicism. He died in New York City in 1962.

Kreisler wrote a number of pieces for the violin, some of them in the style of other composers. Many of these works were originally ascribed to earlier composers such as Gaetano Pugnani, Giuseppe Tartini, and Antonio Vivaldi until Kreisler revealed in 1935 that they were actually by him. When critics complained, Kreisler answered that critics had already deemed the compositions worthy: "The name changes, the value remains". He also wrote operettas (including Apple Blossoms (1919)), a string quartet and cadenzas, including ones for the Brahms D major violin concerto, the Paganini D major violin concerto, and the Beethoven D major violin concerto. His cadenza for the Beethoven concerto is the one most often employed by violinists today.

He owned violins by Guarnerius and Bergonzi. The latter eventually became known as the Kreisler Bergonzi.

Kreisler's work has been reasonably well represented on both LP and CD reissues. Original masters were made on Victor and HMV. As usual with remasterings of 78rpm original, the sound quality varies widely - worn sources, excessive signal processing are common. Recent British EMI re-releases are generally pleasant sounding. The RCA/Victor reissues on LP suffer from aggressive low pass filtering of otherwise exceptional source material. Angel/EMI reissues on LP (Great Recordings of the Century series) are quite muddy. The 4CD album currently available as Membran Q222141-444 features a wonderful cross section of his repertoire, but has audio compromised by extremely invasive DSP.

Kreisler's playing style is extremely personal. To modern ears, his performance persona resembles Mischa Elman with a tendency towards expansive tempi, a very luxuriant vibrato and remarkably expressive phrasing, even in superficially virtuosic passage work. Kreisler employs considerable use of portamento and rubato. However considerable performance contrasts exist between Kreisler and Mischa Elman on the shared standard repertoire (the concerto of Felix Mendelssohn being one example).

A cross section of major recordings of concert works is included below:

Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043. w/ Efrem Zimbalist (vn #2), and a string quartet. rec. 1915.
Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 w/ Leo Blech, Berlin Opera Orchestra. rec 1926.
Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 w/ John Barbirolli, London Symphony Orchestra. rec 1936.
Beethoven Sonata # 8 in G major, Op. 30, No. 3 w/ Sergei Rachmaninoff, pF. rec. 1928.
Beethoven Sonata # 9 in A major, Op. 47 w/ Franz Rupp, pF. rec 1936.
Brahms Violin Concerto in D major, op. 77 w/ John Barbirolli, London Symphony Orchestra, rec. 1936.
Grieg Sonata # 3 in C minor, Op. 45 w/ Sergei Rachmaninoff, pF. rec 1928.
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 w/ Leo Blech, Berlin Opera Orchestra. rec 1926.
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 w/ Landon Ronald, London Symphony Orch. rec. 1934?
Mozart Violin Concerto in D Major, K. 218 w/ Landon Ronald, London Symphony Orch, rec. 1924.
Paganini Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 6 (recomposed by Kreisler) w/ Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orch, rec 1938.
Schubert Sonata # 5 in A Major, D. 574. w/ Sergei Rachmaninoff, pF. rec 1928.
attrib. Vivaldi (composed by Kreisler) Violin Concerto in C Major w/ Donald Voorhees, RCA Victor Orchestra, rec. 1945.

[edit] Work on Broadway

Apple Blossoms (1919) - operetta - co-composer
Continental Varieties (1934) - revue - featured composer for "Caprice Viennois" and "La Gitana"
Reunion in New York (1940) - revue - featured composer for "Stars in Your Eyes"
Rhapsody (1944) - musical - composer