Drdla, Franz (actually, František Alois)

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Drdla, Franz (actually, František Alois)

Drdla, Franz (actually, František Alois), Bohemian violinist and composer; b. Saar, Moravia, Nov. 28,1868; d. Badgastein, Sept. 3,1944. After training with Bennewitz (violin) and Foerster (composition) at the Prague Cons. (1880–82), he studied at the Vienna Cons. (1882–88) with J. Hellmesberger Jr. (violin) and Krenn and Bruckner (composition), winning 1st prize for violin and the medal of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. He was a violinist in the orch. of the Vienna Court Opera (1890–93); after serving as concertmaster of the orch. of the Theater an der Wien (1894–99), he made successful tours as a violinist in Europe (1899–1905) and the U.S. (1923–25). His lighter pieces for violin and piano won enormous popularity in their day, especially his Serenade No. 1 (1901), Souvenir (1904), and Vision. He also wrote the operettas Zlatd sit (1st perf. as Das goldene Netz, Leipzig, 1916; rev. as Bohyng Idsky [The Goddess of Love], Brno, 1941) and Komtesa z prodejny (1st perf. as Die Ladenkomtesse, Briinn, 1917), and a Violin Concerto (1931).

Bibliography

J. Kvet, F. D. (Ždár nad Sázavou, 1968).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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