Kubelík, Jan

Kubelík, Jan

(yän ko͞o`bəlĭk), 1880–1940, Czech violinist. Kubelík studied with Otakar Ševčik at the Prague Conservatory. He made his debut in Vienna in 1898 and was thereafter internationally acclaimed for his great virtuosity and dramatic power. He first appeared in the United States in 1901. His son, Rafael Kubelík, 1914–96, b. Býchory (now in the Czech Republic), was conductor of the Chicago Symphony (1950–53) and later director of the Covent Garden Opera in London; he also composed the opera Veronika (1947), as well as symphonic and instrumental works.

Kubelík, Ján

 

Born July 5, 1880, in Michle, near Prague; died Dec. 5, 1940, in Prague. Czech violinist and composer.

In 1898, Kubelik graduated from the Prague Conservatory, where he studied violin with O. Ševčík. Later he studied composition with J. Foerster and K. Knittl. In the period from 1898 to 1938 he toured many countries (he first came to Russia in 1901 and to the USSR in 1927). His fame derived mainly from his skill as a virtuoso and performer of the works of Paganini. Kubelik was the author of a symphony and compositions for violin (including six concerti). Kubelik International Violin Competitions were conducted in Prague in 1947 and 1949.

REFERENCES

“Sovremennye muzykal’nye deiateli: Ian Kubelik.” Russkaia muzykal’naia gazeta, 1902, nos. 51–52.
Hoffmeister, K. J. Kubelík. Prague, 1941.