Wolfsthal, Arnold
Wolfsthal, Wolfstahl, Wolfstal, Wolstal Bronisław, *22 July 1883 Kamieniec Podolski, †15 (5?) September 1944 Warsaw, conductor, pianist, violinist, teacher and composer, son of Maurycy. He started learning to play the violin around 1888 under the supervision of his father, and to play the piano two years later. In 1899, he studied privately with T. Leszetycki in Vienna, he also studied in the master class of E. Sauer at the local conservatory and in 1905–07 with R. Breithaupt in Berlin and also studied composition with H. Riemann in Leipzig. From 1908 to 1918, he was a piano professor at the GTM Conservatory in Lviv, and in 1907–08, he led the Technical Choir (former students of the Lviv University of Technology), which thanks to him achieved a high level (concert in Warsaw 1907). For this and other Lviv choirs, Bronisław Wolfsthal composed several songs (including the well-known Na Angelus with lyrics by K. Tetmajer). From 1908 to 1916, he was a choirmaster and then a conductor of the opera in Lviv. In 1908, he became close to the Lviv group of Young Poland, in the artistic community called the Musical Circle, and took part in a series of lectures. In 1911–12, he taught opera singing at the Ukrainian Higher Music Institute in Lviv, founded in 1903. In 1918, he conducted at the Powszechny Theatre in Przemyśl, where he was to become the first conductor of the planned opera stage.
After World War I, Bronisław Wolfsthal settled in Warsaw and until 1939 taught conducting classes at the F. Chopin Higher School of Music. In 1926, he conducted for the first time at the Volksoper in Vienna (E. d’Albert’s Lowlands, according to other sources, R. Wagner’s Tannhäuser), conducted Moniuszko’s Halka, which he took over from E. Młynarski, and served there as first conductor until 1928; in Vienna, he was then described as a “new Wagner expert” (M. Orlicz). On 15 March 1929, he made his debut at a symphony concert at the Warsaw Philharmonic and stayed in this institution for 8 years, gaining popularity, among others, at Sunday symphony matinees. He collaborated with the Grand Theatre, and in 1934, he joined the artistic council supporting the management. He also performed in the philharmonic hall and opera in Poznań (1929–31), Lviv (1936 and 1939), Kraków, and toured Czechoslovakia. After World War I, he eagerly returned to Lviv, where he performed at chamber concerts, especially with H. Ottawowa, A. Sladek and J. Pulikowski. His fate during World War II is unknown. He died in 1944 in Wola during the evacuation of the population of Warsaw.
In the opinion of musical circles in Poland, Bronisław was one of the most outstanding Polish conductors. Although from a young age, he was famous for his high qualifications and artistic culture, he was not given a permanent position in Poland in the interwar period. Z. Jachimecki (1909), A. Wieniawski (1929), and the Warsaw (1930) and Poznań press called for it. He conducted only as a guest, sometimes from memory, e.g. performances of Aida by G. Verdi in Poznań (1929) and Warsaw (October 1934). His “elegant interpretations” of newer music were appreciated (G. Mahler, A. Bruckner, R. Strauss, A. Honegger, C. Franck, P. Dukas, L. Różycki, H. Melcer). For reviewers, he was a “suggestive” and “captivating” bandmaster (“Przegląd Muzyczny” 1930, No. 7/8), but “recognised in the country theoretically, [and] not exploited in practice” (“Przegląd Muzyczny” 1926, No. 6).
Bronisław Wolfsthal’s wife, Jadwiga, née Żurek (*22 March 1892 Hnilice Wielkie near Zbaraż, †21 September 1977 Warsaw) was a singer (soprano). She studied in Vienna. In the 1920s, she performed in opera and operetta in Lviv and in many other cities in a series of concerts called Opera for the Eastern Borderlands. After returning from another several-year stay in Vienna, since 1930 she worked in Warsaw, performing in the philharmonic hall and the Polish Radio, and also taught singing privately and in music schools; she returned to these activities after World War II. She presented her students at concerts in Warsaw (including 23 June 1946). She retired in 1953; she was a member of SPAM. She was buried at the cemetery in Wólka Węglowa in Warsaw.
Literature: Leopoliana, “Echo Muzyczne, Teatralne i Artystyczne” 1893 No. 52 (includes shortened reviews from M. Wolfsthal’s concert 16 Novemberin Vienna from 1893 in “Montags-Zeitung,” “Illustrierte Zeitung,” “Fremden-Blatt” and “Tagblatt”); J. Kleczyński Przegląd muzyczny, “Echo Muzyczne, Teatralne i Artystyczne” 1894 No. 6; Z ostatniej chwili, “Przegląd Muzyczny, Teatralny i Artystyczny” 1906 No. 9/10; Z. Jachimecki Opera w Krakowie, “Przegląd Polski” 1909 vol. 173, 1911 vol. 181, 1913 vol. 189; M. Orlicz Popularność polskiej sztuki zagranicą, “Comoedia” 1926 No. 32; E.H. Mueller von Asow Deutches Musiker-Lexikon, Dresden 1929, 2nd ed. Kürschners Deutscher Musiker-Kalender, with H.M. von Asow, Berlin 1954; A. Wieniawski Z życia muzycznego, “Rzeczpospolita” 1929 No. 75; S. Wininger Grosse jüdische National Biographie, vol. 6, Czerniowce [1932], reprint Nendeln 1979; Th. Stengel, H. Gerigk Lexikon der Juden in der Musik, Berlin 1941; Życie muzyczne w kraju, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1946 nr 15/16; J. Korolewicz-Waydowa Sztuka i życie. Mój pamiętnik, ed. A. Gozdawa-Reutt, Wrocław 1958, 2nd ed. 1969; Almanach sceny polskiej 1977/78, Warsaw 1979; M. Fuks Muzyka ocalona. Judaica polskie, Warsaw 1989; L.T. Błaszczyk Życie muzyczne Lwowa w XIX wieku, “Przegląd Wschodni” 1991 vol. 1, issue 4; L. Mazepa Konserwatorium Galicyjskiego Towarzystwa Muzycznego we Lwowie, in: Lwów. Miasto, społeczeństwo, kultura. Studia z dziejów Lwowa, vol. 2, ed. H.W. Żaliński and K. Karolczak, Kraków 1998; A. Wypych-Gawrońska Lwowski teatr operowy i operetkowy w latach 1872–1918, Kraków 1999; M. Fuks Księga sławnych muzyków pochodzenia żydowskiego, Poznań 2003; L. and T. Mazepa Szlach do muzycznoji akademiji u Lwowi (‘droga do akademii muzycznej we Lwowie’), vol. 1, Lviv 2003; L.T. Błaszczyk Żydzi w kulturze muzycznej na ziemiach polskich w XIX i XX wieku, typescript.