Adolf Pollitzer, also Adolph Pollitzer ' onMouseout='HidePop("30811")' href="/topics/Budapest">Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

 - November 14, 1900, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

) was a Hungarian

Kingdom of Hungary

The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

 Jewish violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

ist.

In 1842, he left Budapest for Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, where he studied the violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 under Joseph Böhm

Joseph Böhm

Joseph Böhm was a violinist and teacher.He was born in Pest. He was taught by his father and by Pierre Rode. His brother Franz Böhm was too the well-known violinist and the soloist in the Russian empire in an imperial orchestra....

 at the Vienna Conservatory; and in his 14th year he took the first prize at the Conservatory. After a concert tour in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, he went to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and studied under Jean-Delphin Alard. In 1850 he crossed the Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

, and in London his remarkable talents as a violinist were speedily recognized. He became leader at Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...

 under Sir Michael Costa

Michael Costa (conductor)

Sir Michael Andrew Angus Costa was an Italian-born conductor and composer who achieved success in England.-Biography:He was born in Naples as Michaele Andrea Agniello Costa, to a family, according to some, of Sephardic stock...

 and also led the new Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Choral Society

Royal Choral Society

The Royal Choral Society is an amateur choir, based in London. Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir's first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus from...

.

Pollitzer stood preeminent in his day as an interpreter of classic chamber-music, his playing attaining to what may be called "the great style". As a teacher of his instrument he was regarded as the most eminent of his time in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and many pupils who attained distinction had studied under him. In 1861, on the establishment of the London Academy of Music, he was appointed professor of the violin. This post he held till 1870, in which year he succeeded Dr. Henry Wylde

Henry Wylde

Henry Wylde was a conductor, composer, teacher and music critic.Henry Wylde was born at Bushey, Hertfordshire, the elder son of Henry Wylde and Martha Lucy née Paxton. His father, then the organist at St Mary's Watford, was himself a music teacher...

as principal of the Academy, and retained this position until his death.