Joseph Roisman

Joseph Roisman (Josef Roismann) was a Russian (Ukrainian) violinist born (in Odessa) on July 25, 1900.  He is best known for playing in the Budapest String Quartet from 1927 to 1967.  Prior to 1932 he played second violin and then played first violin from 1932 onward.  Although he was a very prominent chamber music player, known throughout the world, there is scant information about him on the internet and no Wikipedia article on him.  He began his violin studies at age 6.  One source states that his first teacher was Peter Stolyarsky although that is highly debatable since prominent pedagogues like Stolyarski never take on beginners.  From Odessa the family went to Berlin where Roisman studied with Alexander Fiedemann.  In 1914, they returned to Odessa where the young Roisman studied with Naoum Blinder at the Imperial Conservatory.  After graduating, he was appointed concertmaster of the Odessa Opera Orchestra.  After the 1917 revolution, Roisman made a living in Russia playing in farms and factories.  In 1923, he left Russia and soon settled in Prague, playing in the Czech Philharmonic and in cafes.  By 1925, he had arrived in Berlin where he landed a job in a movie theatre orchestra.  According to one source, the theatre orchestra paid better than the Berlin Philharmonic.  He supplemented his income by playing in cafes there too.  He joined the Budapest Quartet after auditioning in the spring of 1927.  He played his first concert with the quartet on September 17, 1927 in Oslo, Norway – it was an all-Beethoven program.  Roisman, as far as I know, never played solo concerts or recitals.  Here is an audio file of the quartet playing a Haydn quartet in (circa) 1925, prior to Roisman's joining.  Here is a recording (from 1934) of a Mozart quartet, including Roisman and the players which lasted the longest with the Budapest String Quartet and are traditionally associated with it.  Roisman played a Domenico Montagnana violin constructed in 1723 and a magnificent 1785 Lorenzo Storioni.  Joseph Roisman died on October 10, 1974, at age 74. 

Naoum Blinder

Naoum Blinder was a Russian (Ukrainian) violinist and teacher born (in Lutzk) on July 19, 1889 – since various sources vary his exact date and place of birth are approximate.  He is best remembered for being one of Isaac Stern’s teachers – between 1932 and 1935.  He was a touring concert violinist for a while but finally settled in San Francisco to become the orchestra’s concertmaster for 25 years.  He began his violin studies as a child although I don’t know at what age.  By age 14 he had graduated from the Imperial Conservatory in Odessa.  There, he had studied with Peter Stolyarsky and Alexander Fiedemann.  He then entered the Moscow Conservatory (in about 1904) and studied with an unknown teacher there until about 1910.  He was by then 21 years old.  From there, he went to pursue further study in England at the Royal Manchester College of Music.  His main teacher there was Adolph Brodsky.  Blinder graduated from the RMC in 1913 or 1914 and then returned to Odessa to teach at the Conservatory.  He was 25 years old.  He remained there until 1920.  All the while, he toured (mostly Russia and the Middle East) as a soloist.  Between 1923 and 1927, he taught at the Moscow Conservatory.  I don’t know what he did or where he was between 1920 and 1923.  Blinder and his family (his wife and daughter) came to the US (via Japan) in December, 1927.  Between 1929 and 1931, Blinder taught at Juilliard in New York.  In 1931, he became the concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony at the invitation of a friend who had known him in Russia.  Blinder was 42 years old.  He continued to tour intermittently as a soloist and founded the San Francisco String Quartet in 1935 as well.  In that year, he and Isaac Stern played the Bach concerto for two violins with the orchestra.  That is fairly typical of teachers and their favorite students to do.  Blinder had a very large body of students; many of them became members of the San Francisco Symphony and other orchestras.  Glenn Dicterow and Joseph Roisman also studied with him for a time.  Blinder owned and played several violins – a 1774 G.B. Guadagnini, a 1753 G.B. Guadagnini, and an 1850 J.B. Vuillaume are among them.  He died on November 21, 1965, at age 76.  Here is a rare solo recording of his. 

Adolph Brodsky

Adolph Brodsky (Adolph Davidovich Brodsky) was a Russian violinist, teacher, and conductor born (in Taganrog) on April 2, 1851.  He is perhaps best known as the violinist who premiered Tchaikovsky’s difficult violin concerto after Leopold Auer turned it down because he found it unplayable.  Although he spent three years in the U.S., his career began and ended in Europe.  His grandfather and father (David) were both violinists and he is said to have begun his lessons at age 4 in his hometown.  At age 9, he played a concert in Odessa (Russia-Ukraine) and was subsequently sponsored by a wealthy patron, to continue his studies in Vienna, at the Vienna Conservatory, with Joseph Hellmesberger (the elder.)  For a time, Brodsky played second violin in the Hellmesberger Quartet, said to be the first string quartet that actually bore a specific name.  In addition, from 1866 to 1868, Brodsky played in the Imperial (Vienna) Court Orchestra.  He was 15 years old.  In 1870, at about age 20, he left Vienna to tour as a concert violinist.  He settled in Moscow in 1873 where he obtained a teaching position at the Moscow Conservatory in 1875.  He held this post until 1878.  On December 4, 1881, he premiered the Tchaikovsky concerto in Vienna with Hans Richter conducting.  He was 30 years old.  Although initially dedicated to Leopold Auer, the dedication was re-assigned to Brodsky.  Nevertheless, Auer subsequently learned the concerto and taught it to his young pupils, one of which was Jascha Heifetz.  Tchaikovsky was not present at Brodsky’s premiere performance although he later attended a concert in Leipzig (in 1888) in which Karl Halir was the soloist and was extremely pleased with the concerto.  From 1883 to 1891, Brodsky taught at the Leipzig Conservatory.  It was here that Brodsky formed the Brodsky String Quartet with Ottokar Novacek, Hans Sitt, and Leopold Grutzmacher.  It was also at Brodsky’s home that Tchaikovsky, Edvard Grieg, and Johannes Brahms met (all at once) for the first time.  Though Brahms advised against it, in 1891, Brodsky accepted a position as concertmaster of the New York Symphony (for which Carnegie Hall was built), playing under Walter Damrosch.  Brodsky returned to Europe in 1894.  Some sources say he returned in 1895.  He was 43 years old.  After spending some time in Berlin, he was invited to England (by Charles Halle) to teach at the Royal Manchester College of Music and to lead the Halle Orchestra as concertmaster.  It was here that he changed his name from Adolf to Adolph.  From 1895 until his death in 1929, Brodsky taught and was Director at the Royal College.  He also occasionally conducted the Halle Orchestra.  It is said that he was one of the first automobile owners in town.  While in Manchester, Brodsky re-established his string quartet with Rawdon Briggs, Simon Speelman, and Carl Fuchs.  In 1919, Edward Elgar wrote and dedicated his Opus 83 string quartet (in e minor) to this new Brodsky Quartet.  In 1927, Brodsky played the Elgar violin concerto with the Halle Orchestra with Elgar on the podium.  He was 75 years old.  For 17 years (1880 to 1897) his violin was the LaFont Guarnerius of 1735, for many years now played by Nigel Kennedy.  Brodsky, who was also a chess player, died on January 22, 1929, at age 77.  Other than Naoum Blinder (Isaac Stern's teacher), I don’t know if he had any famous pupils.