Lipiński, Carl (actually, Karol Józef)

Lipiński, Carl (actually, Karol Józef), esteemed Polish violinist, conductor, teacher, and composer; b. Radzyń, Oct. 30, 1790; d. Urlów, near Lemberg, Dec. 16, 1861. He received training in violin and music from his father. In 1809 he became concertmaster of the Lemberg Theater orch., where he conducted from 1811 to 1815. In 1817 Lipinski traveled to Italy to hear Paganini. In 1818 the two met in Padua, and Paganini was so impressed with his talent as a violinist that the two performed together in Piacenza. Between 1819 and 1828 Lipiński made tours of Poland, Germany, and Russia, and then toured throughout the whole of Europe. On April 25, 1836, he appeared as soloist in his own Military Concerto for Violin and Orch. in London. In 1839 he settled in Dresden as concertmaster of the Court Orch., a position he retained until his retirement in 1861. He also was active as a conductor, performed with his own string quartet, and taught. Among his most famous pupils were Joachim and Wieniawski. While Lipiński was praised as the equal in technical virtuosity to Paganini, he became best known for upholding the classical ideals of violin playing espoused by Viotti and Spohr. He composed a comic opera, Klótnia przez zaklad (Lemberg, May 27, 1814), and other stage works, 3 syms., 4 violin concertos, pieces for Violin and Piano, Caprices for Violin, and numerous technical studies for violin.

Bibliography

J. Powroźniak, K. L. (Kraków, 1970).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire