Schubert

Franz Schubert was an Austrian violinist, pianist, composer, and teacher born on January 31, 1797. His micro biography is among the posts for January, 2009.

Mozart

Wolfgang Mozart was an Austrian composer born on January 27, 1756. His micro biography is among the posts for January, 2009.

Ferdinand David

Ferdinand David was a violinist born on January 20, 1810. His micro biography is among the blogs posted in January, 2009. 

Mischa Elman

Mischa Elman (Mikhail Saulovich Elman) was a Russian (Ukrainian) violinist born on January 20, 1891 (Stravinsky was 9 years old.) He was known for his short stature, unusual vibrato technique, soulful style, and beautiful tone. He auditioned for Leopold Auer at age 11, playing Wieniawski's concerto in d minor and Paganini's 24th Caprice. Auer then had Elman admitted to the St Petersburg Conservatory, where he (Auer) was a violin instructor. (An amusing song later composed by the Gershwin brothers mentioned Mischa (Elman), Jascha (Heifetz), Toscha (Seidel), and a few other students of Leopold Auer.) In 1903, Elman began to play concerts in the homes of wealthy patrons and, in 1904, made his debut in Berlin. In 1905, he made his London debut with Glazunov's concerto. In 1908, he came to the U.S. and played in Carnegie Hall. He recorded extensively but not nearly as much as other violinists of his time (such as Heifetz, Menuhin, Gitlis, Francescatti, and Ricci.) Elman died on April 5, 1967, at age 76.

Jose Lafitte

Jose Silvestre White Lafitte was a Cuban violinist and composer born on January 17, 1836 (Brahms was 3 years old.) Some sources give December 31, 1835 as his date of birth (an indication that record keeping can sometimes get sloppy.) He began studying as a child and later studied at the Paris Conservatory (1855-1871) because of encouragement and financial assistance he received from American pianist-composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Delphin Alard (Pablo Sarasate's teacher) was his teacher at the conservatory. Lafitte later taught for a year at the same conservatory when Alard took a leave of absence. Later, he was made Director of the Imperial Conservatory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1877-1889) after which he returned to Paris. He concertized in Europe, Latin America, and in the U.S., where he performed with some of the major orchestras (including the New York Philharmonic) in 1875. His most famous composition is La Bella Cubana. His long-neglected violin concerto has been recorded by Rachel Barton on the Cedille label. Lafitte also wrote a string quartet and other small chamber works. He died in Paris on March 12, 1918, at age 82.

Eduard Remenyi

Eduard Remenyi (Eduard Hoffmann) was a Hungarian violinist and composer born on January 17, 1828 (Beethoven was already dead but Paganini was 45 years old.) He studied under Joseph Bohm (Joachim's teacher) at the Vienna Conservatory from 1842 to 1845. His specialty was playing for private audiences. He participated in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (on the losing side) and was subsequently evicted from Austria. In 1851, he came to the U.S. and worked as a free-lance violinist for a couple of years. He returned to Europe in 1853, befriended Franz Liszt for a time, and ended up in England in 1854 where he was appointed solo violinist to Queen Victoria. In 1860, he returned to Hungary where he was then made violin soloist to Emperor Franz Joseph. In 1865, he undertook a tour of Europe. He lived in Paris for six years (1871-1877) then in London and finally crossed the ocean again in 1881 and played in the U.S. and the rest of the Western Hemisphere. From 1886, he concertized throughout the world, by then having established himself and his family in New York City. On the afternoon of May 15, 1898, he was playing a vaudeville show (with orchestra) at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco when, after playing three pieces, he fell over dead on stage. He was 70 years old.

Daisy Kennedy

Daisy Kennedy was an Australian violinist born on January 16, 1893 (Stravinsky was 11 years old.) She studied with Otakar Sevcik in Vienna in 1909, appeared in London in 1911, and toured widely in Europe and the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. She was also violinist Nigel Kennedy's second cousin. She made several recordings in 1919 and 1920. I don't know if she recorded after that. Daisy Kennedy died on October 12, 1981, at age 88.