Karel Halíř

Karel Halíř was born in Hohenelbe, Bohemia (now Vrchlabí, Czech Republic), and studied with Antonín Bennewitz at the Prague Conservatory (1867–73) and with Joseph Joachim in Berlin (1874–76).

After short periods as concertmaster of the orchestras at Königsberg (1879) and Mannheim (1881), he spent ten years at Weimar (1884–94).

At that time he started his own quartet in Berlin with Carl Markees, Adolf Müller, and Hugo Dechert [de], which had a subscription series for fifteen years.

[6] Although not the soloist at the premiere (that was Adolph Brodsky), Karel Halíř championed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, which was not popular in its early years.

He gave the European premiere of Amy Beach’s Violin Sonata in Berlin on 28 October 1899, with Teresa Carreño.

They played a series of concerts every year in London, and were regulars at the bi-annual Beethoven Haus Festival in Bonn.