Bronisław Huberman: Difference between revisions

| backgroundname = non_vocal_instrumentalistBronisław Huberman

| birth_dateimage = {{birthBronislaw date|1882|12|19}}Huberman.jpg

| birth_place = [[Częstochowa]], [[Congress Poland]], [[Russian Empire]]

| instrumentdeath_place = [[ViolinCorsier-sur-Vevey]], [[Switzerland]]

| genre education = [[ClassicalWarsaw music|ClassicalConservatory]]

| occupation = Classical [[Violinviolin]]ist, [[pedagogue]]

| years_active =

'''Bronisław Huberman''' (19 December 1882 &ndash; 16 June 1947) was a [[Jewish]] [[Poland|Polish]] [[violinviolinist]]ist. He was known for his individualistic and personal interpretations and was praised for his tone color, expressiveness, and flexibility. The ''[[Gibson Stradivarius|Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius]]'' violin, which bears his name, was stolen twice and recovered twiceonce during the period in which he owned the instrument. Huberman is also remembered for founding the [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]] (then known as the Palestine Philharmonic) and thus providing refuge from the [[Third Reich]] for nearly 1,000 European Jews.<ref name=Tsioulcas2013>Anastasia{{Cite Tsioulcas, "Huberman's List: How a Violinist Saved Jews in World War II," April 4, 2013, National Public Radio's Deceptive Cadence blog, URLweb|url=https://www.npr.org/blogssections/deceptivecadence/2013/04/02/176018068/hubermans-list-how-a-violinist-saved-jews-in-world-war-ii</ref><ref name|title=Bildner2012>ElisaHow SpungenA Bildner,Violinist "ShiningSaved a1,000 LightJews onIn theWorld HolocaustWar sagaII|website=NPR.org|date=4 ofApril Bronislaw2013 Huberman|accessdate=May 26," October2019|last1=Tsioulcas 18,|first1=Anastasia 2012,}}</ref><ref JTA,name=Bildner2012>{{Cite URL'httpweb|url=https://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/10/18/3109661culture/shining-a-light-on-the-holocaust-saga-of-bronislaw-huberman|title=Shining a light on the Holocaust saga of Bronislaw Huberman|date=Oct 18, 2012|accessdate=May 26, 2019}}</ref>

Huberman was born in [[Częstochowa]], [[Congress Poland|Poland]], to a [[History of the Jews in Poland|Jewish]] family. In his youth he was a pupil of [[Mieczysław Michałowicz]] and [[Maurycy Rosen]] at the [[Warsaw Conservatory]], and of [[Isidor Lotto]] in Paris. In 1892 he studied under [[Joseph Joachim]] in Berlin. Despite being only ten years old, he dazzled Joachim with performances of [[Louis Spohr]], [[Henri Vieuxtemps]], and the transcription of a [[Frédéric Chopin]] nocturne. However, the two did not get along well, and after Huberman's fourteenth birthday he took no more lessons. In 1893 he toured the [[Netherlands]] and [[Belgium]] as a virtuoso performer. Around this time, the six-year-old [[Arthur Rubinstein]] attended one of Huberman's concerts. Rubinstein's parents invited Huberman back to their house and the two boys struck up what would become a lifetime friendship. In 1894 [[Adelina Patti]] invited Huberman to participate in her farewell gala in London, which he did, and in the following year he actually eclipsed her in appearances in [[Vienna]]. In 1896 he performed the violin concerto of [[Johannes Brahms]] in the presence of the composer, who was stunned by the quality of his playing.

He married the German actress [[Elza Galafrés]] (also described as a singer<ref>[{{Cite web|url=http://www.huberman.info/literature/books/galafres/|title=huberman.info|accessdate=May 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116230415/http://www.huberman.info]/literature/books/galafres/|archive-date=January 16, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ballerina).<ref>[{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrightmusic.net/pdfs/ernst-von-dohnanyi.pdf |title=Dr David Wright, Ernst von Dohnanyi]|accessdate=May 26, 2019|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091748/http://www.wrightmusic.net/pdfs/ernst-von-dohnanyi.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> They had a son, Johannes, but the marriage did not last. She later met the Hungarian composer and pianist [[Ernő Dohnányi]], but neither Huberman nor Dohnányi's then wife would consent to divorce. Elza and Dohnányi nevertheless had a child out of wedlock in 1917, and in 1919, after Huberman had granted her a divorce, she married Dohnányi, who then adopted Huberman's son Johannes.<ref>[{{cite book|url=https://booksarchive.google.comorg/books?id=wZczV8ZxgL4C&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=elsa+glafres&source=bl&ots=739OqeOeiq&sig=6owO26fFtxLW1ejMVcrdetails/americannational0000unse|url-b7VJzOI&hlaccess=en&saregistration|page=X&ei=1BXmUPidL4ehigekzIDwDA&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q[https://archive.org/details/americannational0000unse/page/146 146]|quote=elsa%20glafres&f=false edglafres.|title=American Marknational biography|date=May Carnes26, American1999|publisher=Oxford NationalUniversity Press|accessdate=May Biography26, Supplement2019|via=Internet 2]Archive}}</ref><ref>[{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9pWtDbd_7woC&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dqq=dohnanyi+huberman&sourcepg=bl&otsPA6|title=qdMJ1eioDP&sigPerspectives on Ernst Von Dohnányi|first=Hw34FRXaGVOTS3d2FWCDJOb916E&hlJames A.|last=en&saGrymes|date=X&eiMay 26, 2005|publisher=PxnmUJn9G42YiAf9lYCADQ&vedScarecrow Press|isbn=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=dohnanyi%20huberman&f9780810851252|accessdate=falseMay Janes A Grymes26, Perspectives2019|via=Google on Dohnanyi]Books}}</ref>

In the 1920s and early 1930s, Huberman toured around Europe and North America with the pianist Siegfried Schultze and performed on the most famous stages (Carnegie in New York, Scala in Milan, Musikverein in Vienna, Konzerthaus in Berlin....). Over the course of many years, the duet Huberman-Schultze were regularly invited in private by European Royal Families. Countless recordings of these artists were done during that period at the "Berliner Rundfunk", andbut were unfortunately destroyed during the Second World War.

In 1937, a year before the [[Anschluss]], Huberman left Vienna and took refuge in Switzerland. The following year, his career nearly ended as a result of an airplane accident in [[Sumatra]] in which his wrist and two fingers of his left hand were broken. After intensive and painful retraining he was able to resume performing. At the onset of the Second World War, Huberman was touring South Africa and was unable to return to his home in Switzerland until after the war. Shortly thereafter he fell ill from exhaustion and never regained his strength. He died in [[Corsier-sur-Vevey]], Switzerland, on June 16, June 1947, at age 64.

In 1929 Huberman first visited [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and developed his vision of establishing classical music in the [[Promised Land]]. In 1933, during the Nazis' rise to power, Huberman declined invitations from [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] to return to preach a "musical peace", but wrote instead an open letter to German intellectuals inviting them to remember their essential values. In 1936 he founded the ''Palestine Symphony Orchestra'' (which upon the establishment of the [[State of Israel]] in 1948 was renamed the [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]]). For the orchestra, Huberman recruited leading Jewish musicians from Europe, showing "the prescience to realize that far more than a new job was at stake for these artists" — for—for "if it hadn't been for Huberman, dozens of musicians and their families — nearlyfamilies—nearly 1000 people in all — wouldall—would nearly certainly have died if they had stayed in countries including Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary."<ref name=Tsioulcas2013/> He was assisted by violinist [[Jacob Surowicz]].<ref>{{citeCite web|title=Orchestra of Exiles - review|url=httphttps://www.thirteen.org/13pressroom/press-release/orchestra-of-exiles/|title=Orchestra of Exiles &#124; Press Release &#124; Pressroom &#124; THIRTEEN|accessdate=May 26, 2019}}</ref> Conductor [[William Steinberg]], then known as Hans Wilhelm Steinberg, trained the orchestra. The first concert, on December 26, December 1936, was conducted by [[Arturo Toscanini]]; Huberman had invited the Italian maestro when he heard of his refusing to perform in Germany to protest the Nazi takeover.<ref name=Bildner2012/> The 2012 documentary film ''Orchestra of Exiles'' by writer, director and producer [[Josh Aronson]] recreates Huberman's work creating the orchestra through interviews and reenactments.<ref>{{cite web|title=Orchestra of Exiles|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1906443/combined|work=IMDB|accessdate=6 April 2013}}</ref> Featuring interviews with [[Zubin Mehta]], [[Pinchas Zukerman]], [[Joshua Bell]], and many other notable musicians, the film details how Huberman rescued nearly 1000 Jewish musicians and their families and created the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. The film also details how famous Jews and leading historical figures, such as [[Albert Einstein]], were vital in creating the orchestra.

Before 1936, Huberman's principal instrument for his concerts was a 1713-vintage [[Stradivarius]] "Gibson," which was named after one of its early owners, the English violinist George Alfred Gibson. It was stolen twice. In 1919, it was taken from Huberman's [[Vienna]] hotel room, but recovered by the police within 3 days. The second time was in [[New York City]]. On 28 February 28, 1936, while giving a concert at [[Carnegie Hall]], Huberman switched the Stradivarius "Gibson" with his newly acquired [[Guarnerius]] violin, leaving the Stradivarius in his dressing room during intermission. It was stolen either by [[New York City]] nightclub musician Julian Altman or a friend of his.<ref>[https://artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu/Media/2522/PressRelease/JBell_HubermanEssay.pdf Press release]artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202151351/https://artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu/Media/2522/PressRelease/JBell_HubermanEssay.pdf |date=2 February 2014 }}</ref> Altman kept the violin for the next half -century. Huberman's insurance company, [[Lloyd's of London]], paid him US$30,000 for the loss in 1936.

Altman went on to become a violinist with the [[National Symphony Orchestra (United States)|National Symphony Orchestra]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], and performed with the stolen Stradivarius for many years. In 1985, Altman made a deathbed confession to his wife, Marcelle Hall, that he had stolen the violin. Two years later, she returned it to Lloyd's and collected a finder's fee of US$263,000. The instrument underwent a 9-month restoration by [[J & A Beare]] Ltd., in London. In 1988, Lloyd's sold it for US$1.2 million to British violinist [[Norbert Brainin]]. In October 2001, the American violinist [[Joshua Bell]] purchased it for just under US$4,000,000.

The instrument, which is now known as the Gibson-Huberman, was the focus of the 2012 documentary ''The Return of the Violin'' by the Israeli television director Haim Hecht which featured interviews with musicians such as Joshua Bell, Zubin Mehta, [[Holocaust]]-survivor [[Sigmund Rolat]] and many other musicians.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Return of the Violin|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9678520|work=IMDB|accessdate=2 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=‘Return'Return of Violin’Violin' builds to impressive ending in week one of JFilm Festival|url=https://jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com/return-of-violin-builds-to-impressive-ending-in-week-one-of-jfilm-festival/|work=Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle|accessdate=2 February 2019}}</ref>

The town of Częstochowa renamed it'sits orchestra as the ''Bronislaw Huberman Philharmonic'' in honor of its native violinist.<ref>{{cite web|title=Polish philharmonic named for Jewish virtuoso|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/polish-philharmonic-named-for-jewish-virtuoso/|work=The Times of Israel|accessdate=2 February 2019}}</ref>

{{ external media|alignfloat=center|width=270px|audio1=You may hear Bronislaw Huberman performing [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]'s [[Violin Concerto (Beethoven)|Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61]] with [[George Szell]] conducting the [[Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra]] in 1934 [https://archive.org/details/BEETHOVENViolinConcerto-Huberman/01.+I.+Allegro+ma+non+troppo.mp3'''Here on archive.org''']}}

*[[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]: Violin Concerto (w. [[Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra]], cond. [[George Szell]]) ([[Columbia Records]], LX 509-13509–13) (18–20 June 1934).

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717110745/http://www.huberman.info/ Bronisław Huberman - biography]

* [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1906443/combined Orchestra of Exiles] on IMDBIMDb

[[Category:MalePolish male classical violinists]]

[[Category:19th-century Polish Jews]]