Leopold Auer - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Auer was born in Veszprém in 1845 in a Jewish household. He first studied violin with a local concertmaster. He later continued his studies with Ridley Kohné in Budapest. A debut with the Mendelssohn concerto aroused the interest of some wealthy patrons, who sent him to Vienna for further study under a scholarship. He lived at the home of his teacher, Jakob Dont. In his memoirs, Auer wrote that Dont was the one who taught him the foundation for his violin technique. In Vienna he also attended quartet classes with Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr.

By the time Auer was 13, the scholarship money had run out. His father decided to launch his career. The income from provincial concerts was barely enough to keep father and son out of poverty. An audition with Henri Vieuxtemps in Graz was a failure. A visit to Paris proved equally unsuccessful. Auer decided to seek the advice of Joseph Joachim, then royal concertmaster at Hanover. The two years Auer spent with Joachim (1861–63) proved a turning point in his career. More than through lessons, he learned through observation and association. He was already well prepared as a violinist. What proved revelatory was exposure to the world of German music making—a world that stresses musical values over virtuoso glitter. Auer later wrote,

Joachim was an inspiration for me and opened before my eyes horizons of that greater art of which until then I had lived in ignorance. With him I worked not only with my hands but with my head, studying the scores of the great masters and endeavoring to penetrate the very heart of their works.... I played a great deal of chamber music with my fellow students.

Auer returned to the concert stage in 1864. Success led to his becoming concertmaster in Düsseldorf. In 1866, he assumed the same position in Hamburg; he also held a string quartet there. On a visit to London in 1868, he was invited to perform Beethoven's Archduke Trio with pianist Anton Rubinstein and cellist Alfredo Piatti. Rubinstein was in search for a violin professor for the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and he suggested Auer. Auer agreed to a three year contract; he would actually stay for 49 years.