An open-air portrait of virtuoso Czech violinist and composer Jan Kubelik.

Jan Kubelik: 1880-1940

He was born in Michle (now part of Prague). His father, a gardener by occupation, was an amateur violinist. He taught his two sons the violin and after discovering the talent of Jan, who was aged five at the time, arranged for him to study with Karel Weber and Karel Ondříček. Aged eight he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Otakar Ševčík, of whose technique he became the most famous representative. As a child, he used to practice 10 to 12 hours a day, or “until my fingers started to bleed.” After 1898, he toured as a soloist, soon becoming renowned for his great virtuosity and flawless intonation, and his very full and noble tone. He played a Guarneri del Gesù and also two Stradivarius violins: he acquired the 1715 Stradivarius Emperor in 1910.

After great success following his debut in Vienna, and in London (where he first appeared at a Hans Richter concert in 1900), Kubelík toured in the USA in 1901 for the first time. He made his first appearance for the Royal Philharmonic Society, London in the season of 1901–2, and in 1902 was awarded the Society’s Gold Medal (in succession to Eugène Ysaÿe). In 1902 he brought the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra to London, having assisted it financially in the previous year.

In 1903, he married Countess Anna Julie Marie Széll von Bessenyö (born 1 March 1880 in Budapest), niece of former Prime Minister of Hungary Kálmán Széll, with whom he had eight children, five violinist daughters and three sons, among them conductor Rafael Kubelík. -Wikipedia (2024) continues…

Dr. Heinrich Bachmann: 1860-1909 (after)

From Graz, Austria, “the lawyer Dr. Bachmann made a name for himself as an amateur photographer and as a specialist author. He was a member of the Amateur Photographers’ Club in Graz and from 1895 a corresponding member of the Society for the Promotion of Amateur Photography in Hamburg.” (1.)

1. Biography: Heinrich Bachmann: Kunstphotographie um 1900. Die Sammlung Ernst Juhl: 1989: Hamburg, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, p. 183