Teodor Leszetycki

Leschetizky, Theodor

 orig. Teodor Leszetycki

(born June 22, 1830, Lancut, Pol., Austrian Empire—died Nov. 14, 1915, Dresden, Ger.) Polish pianist and teacher. A prodigy, he studied in Vienna with Karl Czerny and Simon Sechter (1788–1867) from age 10 and was already a teacher by 14. In addition to performing, he became the most celebrated piano teacher of his time, first at the conservatory in St. Petersburg (1852–78) and thereafter in Vienna. His students included many of the most renowned pianists of their era, including Ignacy Paderewski and Artur Schnabel.

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Leszetycki, Teodor 

(Fedor Osipovich Leshetitskii). Born June 22, 1830, in Łańcut, in present-day Rzeszów Województwo; died Nov. 14, 1915, in Dresden. Polish pianist and teacher; pupil of K. Czerny.

Leszetycki made his debut as a concert pianist in 1842. He lived in St. Petersburg from 1852 to 1878, teaching at the St. Petersburg Conservatory between 1862 and 1878. After 1878 he continued his career in Vienna. Developing A. G. Rubinstein’s principles of piano technique, he evolved his own teaching methods and established one of the most important schools of piano playing. The playing of Leszetycki and his pupils (among them A. N. Esipova, V. V. Pukhal’skii, I. Paderewski, and A. Schnabel) was distinguished by a soft, cantabile tone, careful and elegant execution of detail, and perfect phrasing; it was also somewhat mannered. Leszetycki composed many piano pieces, chiefly of the salon type.

REFERENCES

Ocherki i materialy po istorii pianizma, vol. 2. Moscow-Leningrad, 1948. Pages 190–99.