Karl Davydov

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Karl Davydov

Background information
Birth name	Карл Юльевич Давыдов
Also known as	Karl Davidov
Born	March 15, 1838 [O.S. 3 March 1838] Kuldiga, Latvia, Imperial Russia
Died	February 26, 1889 [O.S. 14 February 1889] (age 51) Moscow, Imperial Russia
Genre(s)	Classical
Occupation(s)	Cellist, composer, conductor, pedagogue
Instrument(s)	Violoncello
Years active	fl. ca. 1850-1889
Notable instrument(s)
Violin Antonio Stradivari 1708 Violoncello Davydov 1712 Stradivarius

Karl Davydov (Russian:Карл Юльевич Давыдов), (15 March [O.S. 3 March] 1838 - 26 February [O.S. 14 February] 1889) was a Russian cellist of great renown during his time, and described by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the "tsar of cellists".

In his youth he studied mathematics at St. Petersburg University, and then pursued a career as a composer, studying with Moritz Hauptmann at the Leipzig Conservatory. He became a full-time cellist in 1850 while continuing to compose in his spare time. He later became head of the St Petersburg Conservatory. In 1870 Count Wilhorsky, a patron of the arts, presented Davydov with a Stradivarius cello constructed in 1712. This cello, now known as the Davidov Stradivarius, is currently owned by cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

He intended to write an opera on the subject of Mazeppa. Viktor Burenin wrote a libretto for this purpose in 1880, but when Davidov proved unable to find the time to compose, Burenin offered to libretto to Tchaikovsky.

Although closely associated with Tchaikovsky, Karl Davidov was not related to the Davidov clan into which Tchaikovsky's sister Alexandra, and the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov married. Davidov died in Moscow on February 26, 1889