Carl Goldmark

Born in Keszthely into a large family, Carl Goldmark had some violin teaching in Sopron and in Vienna before the upheavals of 1848 closed his conservatory studies; what came after was largely self-directed, paid for by theatre playing and lessons. A string quartet and a run of concert overtures made his name, and Die Königin von Saba, first given in Vienna in 1875, carried it abroad and held the stage for decades. The Rustic Wedding Symphony, the First Violin Concerto and the overtures Sakuntala and Penthesilea are among his orchestral works. Brahms was a friend. Leopold Jansa and Joseph Böhm were his teachers on the violin. Five further operas followed Die Königin von Saba, among them Das Heimchen am Herd after Dickens and Ein Wintermärchen after Shakespeare.