{{Short description|Russian violinist (1899 - 1962)}} [[File:Toscha Seidel, violinist (SAYRE 9226).jpg|thumb|right|Toscha Seidel]] '''Toscha Seidel''' (November 17, 1899 – November 15, 1962) was a Russian [[violin]]ist.
==Biography== Seidel was born in [[Odessa]] on November 17, 1899, to a Jewish family.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://theamericanscholar.org/toscha-seidel-sound-of-tinseltown/ | title=The Sound of Tinseltown | date=4 December 2017 }}</ref> A student of [[Leopold Auer]] in [[St. Petersburg]], Seidel became known for a lush, romantic tone and unique and free rubato. In the 1930s he emigrated to the United States. Before making his way to Hollywood where he made a career in the studios of motion pictures, he had a show on CBS radio called The Toscha Seidel Program; he was also that radio network's musical director.<ref name="The Sound of Tinseltown">{{Cite web |date=2017-12-04 |title=The Sound of Tinseltown |url=https://theamericanscholar.org/the-sound-of-tinseltown/ |access-date=2022-05-04 |website=The American Scholar |language=en-US}}</ref> He was featured (as soloist) in several Hollywood productions, including the movies ''[[Intermezzo (1939 film)|Intermezzo]]'', ''[[Melody for Three]],'' and even [[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|''The Wizard of Oz'']].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Stewart |first=James B. |date=2022-05-09 |title=A Violin From Hollywood's Golden Age Aims at an Auction Record |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/arts/music/seidel-stradivarius-violin-auction.html |access-date=2022-05-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=The Wizard of Oz (1939) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032138/fullcredits|access-date=2020-11-10}}</ref> He was also an avid chess player (like [[Mischa Elman]]). In 1922, George Gershwin wrote a song about him and his fellow Russian-Jewish virtuoso violinists called, "[[Mischa Elman|Mischa]], [[Jascha Heifetz|Jascha]], Toscha, [[Sascha Jacobsen|Sascha]]."<ref name="The Sound of Tinseltown"/>
Seidel had a weekly broadcast on the CBS radio network in the 1930s.<ref name=":0" />
In 1934 Seidel gave violin instruction to [[Albert Einstein]], and received a sketch in return, reportedly diagramming length contraction of his [[theory of relativity]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.violinist.com/discussion/response.cfm?ID=7708|title = Toscha Seidel}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.magnes.org/about/press/102703.html |title=Press Releases || the Magnes |website=www.magnes.org |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927094802/http://www.magnes.org/about/press/102703.html |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
He died on November 15, 1962.
== Instruments == [[File:19240427 Toscha Seidel buys Da Vinci Stradivarius violin - $25,000 - New York Times.jpg|thumb|In 1924, Seidel bought the Da Vinci Stradivarius violin for $25,000 from a private dealer from Berlin.<ref name=NYTimes_19240427>{{cite news |title=Toscha Seidel Buys Celebrated Violin |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1924/04/27/101592456.html?pageNumber=58 |work=The New York Times |date=April 27, 1924 }} Section 2, page 1.</ref>]] Seidel performed on several well-known violins including:
* [[Antonio Stradivari]], the "da Vinci" 1714 (now known as the Ex-Seidel), which he purchased in 1924 for $25,000 and said he wouldn't trade it for a million<ref name=":0" /> * [[Giovanni Battista Guadagnini]] 1786 (now known as the Ex-Seidel) * a copy of the "Alard Stradivari" by [[Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume]] 1860.
==Quotes== * "The boy ([[Jascha Heifetz]]) was one of those in a group of young Jewish violinists who later startled the world. The others would include [[Mischa Elman]], Tosha Seidel, [[Efrem Zimbalist]] and [[Nathan Milstein]]." —New York Times by Harold Schonberg, Published: December 12, 1987 <!-- * New York Evening Post of 22 June 1918:
‘Over The Chess Board Capablanca Conceives Morphy-like Combination in Game Played Against Professor Fonaroff By H. Helms A lightweight classic that will take rank with some of Paul Morphy’s was produced by José R. Capablanca Tuesday, when, as a guest at a soirée in the apartments of Prof. Marc Fonaroff, of the New York Institute of Musical Art, he played a game of chess against that master musician. There was present a notable group of artists, including Tosha [Toscha] Seidel, the violin prodigy, who, like Mischa Elman, is very fond of chess, and Mr and Mrs Leon Rosen, who, fortunately, took and preserved the score for the benefit of posterity. The game follows.-->
==References== <references />
==External links== * [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/109105 Toscha Seidel recordings] at the [[Discography of American Historical Recordings]]. * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l362Ke9K99s Toscha Seidel plays ''Intermezzo'' by Heinz Provost] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH8f7thLXAs Toscha Seidel plays ''Hungarian Dance No. 5'' by Johannes Brahms]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Seidel, Toscha}} [[Category:1899 births]] [[Category:1962 deaths]] [[Category:Russian classical violinists]] [[Category:American male violinists]] [[Category:Jewish classical musicians]] [[Category:Jewish Ukrainian musicians]] [[Category:20th-century American male musicians]] [[Category:Russian male classical violinists]] [[Category:Soviet violinists]] [[Category:20th-century American classical violinists]]