- Rafael Joseffy
Rafael Joseffy (
July 3 1852 –June 25 1915 ) was a Hungarianpianist andcomposer .Life
His youth was spent in
Miskolcz , and there, at the age of 8, he began his study of thepiano . He studied inBudapest with Friedrich Brauer, the teacher ofStephen Heller . In 1866 he went toLeipzig , where his teachers wereIgnaz Moscheles and Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel. In 1868 he became a pupil ofCarl Tausig in Berlin, remaining with him for two years. Later he spent two summers withFranz Liszt inWeimar .He made his debut in
Berlin in 1872 and was immediately acclaimed as a master pianist of great brilliance. He moved to theUnited States in 1879, where he lived inNew York . He made his American debut in New York in 1879, with an orchestra underLeopold Damrosch . He soon after played with theNew York Philharmonic Orchestra , and subsequently made many appearances in New York and other American cities withTheodore Thomas and his orchestra. His style was broad and comprehensive, yet his playing had a certain incisiveness.He produced numerous popular compositions for the piano as well as editing works of
Chopin and other composers forG. Schirmer music publishers. Later in life he virtually retired from the concert platform and devoted his attention to teaching. He was a very reserved man.Henry Wolfsohn claimed to have offered Joseffy huge sums for concert tours but the pianist found concert life so severe upon his nerves that he would not accept. He preferred the smaller income of a teacher to the glare of the footlights. Joseffy continued to care absolutely nothing for fame or applause. To him his art was supreme and other things mattered little. While in New York, he spent his summers in Tarrytown.*
External links
*cite news
author=James Huneker
title=THE RARE ART OF RAFAEL JOSEFFY; The Passing of the Famous Virtuoso Last Week Severed a Career of Triumph in Musical World
date=
work=New York Times
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=940DE1D6123FE233A25757C0A9619C946496D6CF
accessdate=2008-08-08
* [http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Joseffy-Rafael.htm Rafael Joseffy - Bach-Cantatas]
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