Stefan Frenkel
Stefan Frenkel (21 November 1902 – 1 March 1979),[1] born in Warsaw and in later years resident in America, was a violinist, academic and composer.
Life
Frenkel was born in Warsaw in 1902, a son of businessman Adam Frenkel and wife Berta. At the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin he studied violin with Adolf Busch and Carl Flesch, and composition with Friedrich Koch. He became concertmaster of the Dresden Philharmonic in 1924.[1]
At this time he also gave concerts as soloist and in chamber music, and performed contemporary music in the series of concerts organized by the pianist Paul Aron , the "Neue Musik Paul Aron". He gave the premieres of Josef Suk's "Phantasie" for violin and orchestra, and of Kurt Weill's concerto for violin and wind orchestra. He left Dresden in 1926, and appeared as soloist at venues in Germany, playing works by contemporary composers, including the premiere in 1929 of his own concerto for violin and string orchestra.[1][2]
From 1933, in Nazi Germany, Frenkel could perform only in events organized by the Jüdische Kulturbund. He left Germany in 1935 and moved to Switzerland, where he was concertmaster of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. In the following year he moved to the United States, and in New York was the first concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera, holding the post until 1940.[1][2]
He was a violin teacher at Princeton University, and during summers he was concertmaster at Rio de Janeiro Opera and Santa Fe Opera.[1][2]
Frenkel died in 1979 at his home in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. He was survived by his wife Lotte, children Sonja and Thomas, and a granddaughter.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Stefan Frenkel" Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit. University of Hamburg. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Stefan Frenkel, at 73" The New York Times. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
External links
- Composers with IMSLP links
- Articles with International Music Score Library Project links
- Articles with ISNI identifiers
- Articles with VIAF identifiers
- Articles with WorldCat Entities identifiers
- Articles with GND identifiers
- Articles with J9U identifiers
- Articles with LCCN identifiers
- Articles with NKC identifiers
- Articles with PLWABN identifiers
- Articles with LexM identifiers
- Articles with MusicBrainz identifiers
- Articles with DTBIO identifiers
- 1902 births
- 1979 deaths
- Jewish classical violinists
- Male classical violinists
- Musicians from Warsaw
- 20th-century classical violinists
- Princeton University faculty
- 20th-century male musicians
- Polish emigrants to the United States