AntonÃn Bennewitz
Anton Bennewitz, Antonín Bennewitz ( born March 26, 1833 in Přívrat, Bohemia, † May 29 1926 in Doksy, Czechoslovakia) was a Bohemian violinist, conductor and music teacher, who stood in the tradition of violin virtuoso, began with Giovanni Battista Viotti and later to January Kubelík and Wolfgang Schneiderhan continued.
Life and work
Although Bennewitz to have been entered into the Geburtsmatrikel as Antonín Benevic, but there is also his family name in Czech literature in general in the German form Bennewitz, because he was paternal Prussian origin. Even his Berlin grandfather had entered the service of the Bohemian Count Waldstein, or Wallenstein, and Bennewitz was born the third child of Counts Waldstein forest manager in the Forest Centre Přívrat, his Czech mother was the daughter of the castle Director Keppert Castle Litomyšl.
After visiting the Piaristen High School in Leitomischl he studied from 1846 to 1852 at the Prague Conservatory violin with Moritz Mildner ( 1812-1865 ), was then first violinist at the Estates Theatre in Prague ( " the Estates Theatre " ), the two by the premiere of Mozart opera has made in the history of music, and then engaged as concertmaster in Salzburg and Stuttgart. In 1859 he gave concerts in Paris and Brussels. His involvement in the unfortunate premiere of Smetana's Piano Trio in G, Op 153 in December 1855 in Prague with cellist Johann August Julius Goltermann and Smetana himself at the piano fell in this period. With Goltermann he had already formed a year earlier in a matinee of Smetana's music school with the most talented student Smetana, the eleven-year old Augusta Kolárová, a trio and played Beethoven's Piano Trio in G major (Op. 1, No. 2). This girl, a cousin of Smetana's wife, was later under the name of Auguste Auspitz - Kolar (1843-1878) granted a brilliant career.
1866 Bennewitz became a professor for violin at the Prague Conservatory. In 1876 he followed Mildner first violin in Friedrich Wilhelm Pixis ' String Quartet after that was very well known later as Bennewitz Quartet. 1882 Directorate of the Prague Conservatory, he was appointed, he, although he already wanted to retire in 1895 until 1901 held and in what capacity later Antonín Dvořák succeeded him. Under the direction of Bennewitz his institute experienced its "golden age ". Even mixed German - Czech origin, he worked in flared up Nationality dispute as a mediator, appreciated his Czech students not less than that of German nationality, caused by the introduction also Czech -language education for equal opportunities in the music theory, was looking for musical talents even in the Czech population, fought for the provision of public funds for gifted but little well-off students.
In its Directorate period, the opening of the Rudolfinum what his endeavor and Czech musicians to promote fell, came to meet very. He brought many of their works on the programs of the Conservatoire concerts, conducted such works will personally and was also one of the founders of the Prague Chamber Music Society, the national ideals Smetana " From My Life " encouraged his String Quartet No. 1 in E minor.
Benne Witz students caused the world-famous Prague violin school. These included František Ondříček who brought Dvořák's Violin Concerto premiered, and Karel Halíř, the Sibelius the premiere of the revised version of his Violin Concerto entrusted, composer and music teacher Hans ( Hanus ) Sitt, Jiří Herold ( 1875-1934 ), violinist Johann (Hans ) Gerstner (1851-1939), three members of the Bohemian, and later Czech string quartet - the two violinist Karl Hoffmann (1872-1936) and Josef Suk as well as a violist composer and conductor Oskar Nedbal - but also Otakar Ševčík as Franz Lehár, the pupil of the Prague Conservatory with a major in violin with Anton Bennewitz was twelve years already, but the Dvořák counseled to focus more on composing.
In February 1895 Bennewitz conducted with great success the first complete performance of Josef Suk's Serenade for Strings in E, Op 6 with the Prague Conservatory Orchestra, after two sets under Suk were themselves already been 14 months previously heard already. In June 1896 Bennewitz also brought with the Conservatory Orchestra in a semi- public concerts Dvořák's " Symphonic Poems " The Noon Witch, The Golden Spinning Wheel and The Aquarius premiered.
1901 Bennewitz was after 35 years of work at the Prague Conservatory in retirement. The minutes of the 7th meeting of the Czech parliament in June 26, 1902 reported under number 96: " Report of the National Commission on the request of the Executive Board of the Association for the promotion of music in Bohemia to grant a special subsidy to cover the pension for the director of the Prague Conservatory Anton Bennewitz ".
After retirement, pulled the almost seventy years old with his wife Emilie, born Miková, an opera singer who had once been the first Milada in Smetana's Dalibor, North Bohemia, where he remained until the end of life.
Appreciation
1998, a new Bennewitz Quartet was in Prague in honor of Anton Bennewitz founded with Jiri Nemecek and Stepan Jezek, violins, Jiří Pinkas, viola, and Stepan Deležal, cello, the music school in Česká Třebová was named after him, spent on his 1875, but now reconstructed birthplace in 1959 a plaque attached and the unveiling of a monument to the Conservatory Professor Bennewitz in place in April 2008. His name is kept alive by the in 1999, the International Music Festival Antonín Bennewitz in Třebova with a concert in his village of birth.