Toscha Seidel

[1] A student of Leopold Auer in St. Petersburg, Seidel became known for a lush, romantic tone and unique and free rubato.

Before making his way to Hollywood where he made a career in the studios of motion pictures, he had a show on CBS radio called The Toscha Seidel Program; he was also that radio network's musical director.

[2] He was featured (as soloist) in several Hollywood productions, including the movies Intermezzo, Melody for Three, and even The Wizard of Oz.

In 1922, George Gershwin wrote a song about him and his fellow Russian-Jewish virtuoso violinists called, "Mischa, Jascha, Toscha, Sascha.

[3] In 1934 Seidel gave violin instruction to Albert Einstein, and received a sketch in return, reportedly diagramming length contraction of his theory of relativity.