Carl Flesch

Carl Flesch (October 9, 1873 – November 14, 1944) was a violinist and teacher.

Born in Moson in Hungary, Flesch began playing the violin at six years of age. At 10, he was taken to Vienna, and began to study with Jakob Grün. At 17, he left for Paris, and joined the Paris Conservatoire. He later settled in Berlin, and as well as being known for his solo performances in a very wide range of repertoire (from Baroque music to contemporary), gained fame as a chamber music performer and as a violin pedagogue. He published a number of instructional books, including "Die Kunst des Violin-Spiels" (1923) in which he advocated the concept of the violinist as an artist, rather than merely a virtuoso. Among his pupils were Ida Haendel, Henryk Szeryng, Josef Hassid, Yfrah Neaman, and Eric Rosenblith all of whom achieved considerable fame as both performers and pedagogues. He was consulted by Louis Krasner over technical difficulties in the "Violin Concerto" by Alban Berg which Krasner was to premiere. Carl Flesch's "Scale System" is a staple of violin pedagogy.

Flesch owned the "Brancaccio" Stradivarius, but had to sell it in 1928 after losing all his money on the New York Stock Exchange.

Flesch died in Lucerne.

References

* Carl Flesch: "The Memoirs of Carl Flesch" (trans. Hans Keller and ed. by him in collaboration with C.F.Flesch); foreword by Max Rostal (1957).
* Carl Flesch: "The Art Of Violin Playing, Books 1 & 2" Translated & Edited by Eric Rosenblith. New York: Carl Fischer © Edition #/ISBN O 2046
* Boris Schwarz: "Great Masters of the Violin"; forward by Yehudi Menuhin. New York: Simon and Schuster © 1983.

External links

* [http://www.carl-flesch.de/ A page on Flesch by José Sánchez-Penzo]
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