Severin Eisenberger (; 1879 in

Krakau Krakau is a municipality in the district of Murau (district), Murau in Styria, Austria. It was created on 1 January 2015 when the municipalities of Krakaudorf, Krakauhintermühlen and Krakauschatten were merged.http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/L ...

, Austrian Galicia – 1945 in New York) was a Polish concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, composer and teacher. Eisenberger was a student of Heinrich Ehrlich in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky; ; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915) was a Polish pianist, professor, and composer active in Austria-Hungary. He was born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He made his debut at the age of 10 in Kraków in a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat. After settling in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1928, he taught at the

Cincinnati College The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

Conservatory of Music, and continued to concertize actively. Eisenberger frequently performed with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra. In 1931 he gave that Orchestra's first performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.491. His concerts included notable cycles of Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas. His last public appearance was in 1941 with the Cleveland Orchestra under

Artur Rodziński Artur Rodziński (2 January 1892 – 27 November 1958) was a Polish and American conductor of orchestral music and opera. He began his career after World War I in Poland, where he was discovered by Leopold Stokowski, who invited him to be his ass ...

, playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 'Emperor'. Several CD recordings of Eisenberger's playing have been released by Pearl and Arbiter records, including performances of the

Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...

Piano Concerto in A minor and the Chopin 2nd Piano Concerto in F minor (recorded c. 1938). Eisenberger was reported to have performed the Grieg concerto under the composer's baton. Allan Evans calls Eisenberger "a distant figure who once was among the commanding keyboard masters to perform throughout Central Europe and the United States." A number of Eisenberger's pupils achieved distinguished careers as concert pianists, composers and teachers, including

Lili Kraus Lili Kraus (4 March 19056 November 1986) was a Hungarian-born pianist. Biography Lili Kraus was born March 4 in Budapest in 1905. Her father was from Czech Lands, and her mother from an assimilated Jewish Hungarian family. She enrolled at th ...

Heinrich Kaminski Heinrich Kaminski (4 July 1886 - 21 June 1946) was a German composer. Life Kaminski was born in Tiengen in the Schwarzwald, the son of an Old Catholic priest of Jewish parentage. After a short period working in a bank in Offenbach, he moved ...

, Sylvia Straus Heschel, ,

Gertrude Ross Gertrude Ross (1889-1957) was a versatile American composer and pianist who wrote music for films and stage as well as songs and instrumental works. She researched Japanese and Hebrew music for her own compositions and collected Spanish folksongs ...

, Jeanette Tillett, and Vivien Harvey Slater, his teaching assistant until 1945, who later recorded five LP records of the music of Leschetizky's teacher,

Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; ; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works an ...

(Musical Heritage Society). Eisenberger's daughter was Agnes Eisenberger, concert artist manager, and editor of ''The

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

Notebooks''.

References

External links

Allan Evans' article on Eisenberger at Arbiter Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eisenberger, Severin Jewish American classical musicians Polish classical pianists American classical pianists American male classical pianists American male pianists Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Musicians from Kraków Academic staff of the Academy of Music in Kraków 1879 births 1945 deaths Polish emigrants to the United States