Lili Petschnikoff

Lili Petschnikoff (December 1, 1874 — September 23, 1957) was an American concert violinist.

Lili Petschnikoff, c. 1919

Early life

Lili Schober was born in Chicago, Illinois, but spent much of her youth abroad, studying violin under Joseph Joachim in Berlin[1] and performing in Europe.[2]

Career
Alexander and Lili Petschnikoff, c. 1907

Lili Petschnikoff and her husband toured together as musicians in the United States in 1907.[3][4] Petchnikoff gave a recital at the Aeolian Hall in 1916, with singer Clara Gabrilowitsch and pianist Rudolph Ganz.[5] In 1919 Lili Petschnikoff gave a series of concerts at her home in Hollywood with pianist Cornelia Rider-Possart.[6] She was officially retired by 1923, but played a radio concert with pianist Olga Steeb that year.[7] She became a chamber music partner to Albert Einstein, who enjoyed playing violin with Petchnikoff in 1931, while he was working at the California Institute of Technology.[8] She was also a friend to German singer Lotte Lehmann.[9]

She was said to own a Stradivarius violin,[10] probably one of the two that her husband brought to the United States on his 1899 visit.[11] Petschnikoff wrote an autobiography, The World At Our Feet, published posthumously by her son in 1968.[12]

Personal life

Lili Schober married Russian violinist Alexander Petschnikoff. They had three children, Tatjana, Nadja, and Sergei,[13] before they divorced. She reclaimed her American citizenship and eventually moved to Los Angeles during World War I,[14] and her home opposite the entrance to the Hollywood Bowl[15] was a gathering place of musicians and arts patrons.[6][16] She died in 1957, in Los Angeles, aged 82 years.[17]

References
  1. "Mme. Petschnikoff's Recital" The Argonaut (April 27, 1918): 268.
  2. "Lili Petchnikoff, Famous Violiniste, to Give L. A. Concert" Los Angeles Herald (January 31, 1919): 10. via California Digital Newspaper Collection
  3. "The Petschnikoffs Play" New York Times (January 17, 1907): 7. via ProQuest
  4. "A Musical Spring at the University of California" Musical Courier (March 6, 1907): 29.
  5. "Mme. Petschnikoff Plays" Violin World (January 15, 1916): 184.
  6. Margie Manning Lindsey, "Petschnikoff Series" Holly Leaves (November 8, 1919): 8.
  7. "Two Renowned Artists on KHJ" Los Angeles Times (July 23, 1923): 6. via Newspapers.com
  8. Josef Eisinger, Einstein on the Road (Prometheus Books 2011). ISBN 9781616144616
  9. Isabel Morse Jones, "The Week's High Note in Music" Los Angeles Times (August 13, 1939): 51. via Newspapers.com
  10. "Orpheum" Pacific Coast Musical Review (July 13, 1918): 6.
  11. "Some High-Priced Violins" The Violinist (September 1, 1901): 12.
  12. Lili Petschnikoff, The World At Our Feet (Vantage 1968).
  13. "Petschnikoff Series" Holly Leaves (August 23, 1919): 1.
  14. "Captive in Germany" Holly Leaves (July 26, 1919): 8.
  15. Bruno Walter, James Austin Galston, Theme and Variations: An Autobiography (Knopf 1946): 281, 339.
  16. "Artist to be Hostess" Holly Leaves (September 27, 1919): 19.
  17. "Mrs. Lili Petschnikoff, Violinist, Dies" Los Angeles Times (September 24, 1957): 42. via Newspapers.com

Further reading
  • Lili Petschnikoff (1968). The World at our Feet. Vantage Press.
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