Eisfeld, Theodor(e)
Eisfeld, Theodor(e)
Eisfeld, Theodor(e), German conductor and composer; b. Wolfenbiittel, April 11, 1816; d. Wiesbaden, Sept. 2, 1882. He was a pupil of Karl Muller (violin) in Braunschweig and of Reissiger (composition) in Dresden, and later had some lessons with Rossini in Bologna. After conducting at the Wiesbaden court theater (1839–43), he went to Paris. In 1848 he went to N.Y. and in 1849 he made his first appearance with the N.Y. Phil., with which he was active until 1852 when he was made its sole conductor. From 1854 to 1865 he shared the conductorship with Carl Bergmann. He also was active in sponsoring chamber music in N.Y. from 1851, and was founder-conductor of the Brooklyn Phil, in 1857. In 1866 he returned to Germany.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire