Jakob Gimpel was a Polish concert pianist and educator.

Jakob Gimpel was born in Lvov (then in Polish Galicia, part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, and now Lviv

Lviv

Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

). Gimpel's younger brother, Bronislav Gimpel

Bronislav Gimpel

Bronislav Gimpel was a Polish-American violinist, and teacher. He was born in Lvov, Austria-Hungary, part of Polish Galicia , to a family of Jewish origin...

, was a noted concert violinist, and his older brother, Karol Gimpel, was a pianist and conductor.

Performing career

Gimpel began his piano studies with his father, Adolph, and later studied piano with Cornelia Tarnowska and Eduard Steuermann

Eduard Steuermann

Eduard Steuermann was an Austrian pianist and composer. The actress Salka Viertel was his sister...

, and music theory with Alban Berg

Alban Berg

Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...

. Gimpel made his debut in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, in 1923, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of the Netherlands, based at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 1988, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra...

, conducted by Pierre Monteux

Pierre Monteux

Pierre Monteux was an orchestra conductor. Born in Paris, France, Monteux later became an American citizen.-Life and career:Monteux was born in Paris in 1875. His family was descended from Sephardi Jews who came to France in the wake of the Spanish Inquisition. He studied violin from an early age,...

. He played Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...

's 2nd Piano Concerto

Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between the autumn of 1900 and April 1901. The second and third movements were first performed with the composer as soloist on 2 December 1900...

.

Gimpel toured with violinists Bronisław Huberman, Erika Morini

Erika Morini

Erika Morini was a Jewish Austrian violinist, born in Vienna.- Family and Life :She received her first instruction from her father, Oscar Morini Erika Morini (Vienna, January 5, 1904 - New York City, October 31, 1995) was a Jewish Austrian violinist, born in Vienna.- Family and Life :She received...

, Nathan Milstein

Nathan Milstein

Nathan Mironovich Milstein was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period...

, and his brother, Bronislav Gimpel. In 1937, Gimpel helped Huberman to found the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, now the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. It was originally known as the Palestine Orchestra, and in Hebrew as התזמורת הסימפונית הארץ ישראלית The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit...

. Gimpel migrated to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 in 1938 and later moved to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

.

Film credits

Among Gimpel's film credits are recorded appearances in Gaslight

Gaslight (1944 film)

Gaslight is a 1944 mystery-thriller film adapted from Patrick Hamilton's play, Gas Light, performed as Angel Street on Broadway in 1941. It was the second version to be filmed; the first, released in the United Kingdom, had been made a mere four years earlier...

, Possessed

Possessed (1947 film)

Possessed is a 1947 Warner Bros. film starring Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, and Raymond Massey in a tale about an unstable woman's obsession with her ex-lover. The screenplay by Ranald MacDougall and Silvia Richards was based upon a story by Rita Weiman. The film was directed by Curtis Bernhardt and...

, Letter from an Unknown Woman

Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948 film)

Letter from an Unknown Woman is a film directed by Max Ophüls. It was based on the novella of the same name, which was written by Stefan Zweig...

, Strange Fascination, The Story of Three Loves

The Story of Three Loves

The Story of Three Loves, also known as Equilibrium, is a 1953 romantic anthology film made by MGM. It consists of three stories, "The Jealous Lover", "Mademoiselle", and "Equilibrium". The film was produced by Sidney Franklin. "Mademoiselle" was directed by Vincente Minnelli, while Gottfried...

, and The Mephisto Waltz

The Mephisto Waltz (film)

The Mephisto Waltz is a 1971 American horror film about an occult-murder mystery. It was directed by Paul Wendkos and starred Alan Alda, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbara Parkins, Bradford Dillman and Curt Jürgens...

. Gimpel also recorded music for two classic cartoons: Rhapsody Rabbit

Rhapsody Rabbit

Rhapsody Rabbit is a 1946 Merrie Melodies animated short subject, featuring Bugs Bunny and directed by Friz Freleng. The short was originally released to theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures on November 9, 1946. This short is a follow-up of sorts to Freleng's 1941 Academy Award-nominated short...

and the Academy-Award-winning Tom and Jerry

Tom and Jerry

Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...

 short, Johann Mouse

Johann Mouse

Johann Mouse is the 75th one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1953 directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley and Jakob Gimpel and narration by Hans Conried...

.

Later years and honors

Gimpel was one of the first European-American artists to return to Europe after World War II; he played hundreds of concerts in West Germany in 1954. From 1971 to 1986, Gimpel was professor in residence at California State University, Northridge

California State University, Northridge

California State University, Northridge is a public university in Northridge, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California, United States....

 (CSUN). He was awarded the West German Order of Merit, First Class, and, in 1975, the Ben-Gurion Award from the State of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

On May 9, 1979, Gimpel was scheduled to give a joint recital in Los Angeles with his brother Bronislav Gimpel

Bronislav Gimpel

Bronislav Gimpel was a Polish-American violinist, and teacher. He was born in Lvov, Austria-Hungary, part of Polish Galicia , to a family of Jewish origin...

. Bronislav died unexpectedly several days before the performance and Jakob played a solo recital in memory of his brother.

External links

• http://www.gimpelmusicarchives.com/