Paintings in the Mendelssohn Hall
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The violinist Willy Burmeister
Painting by Jakob Zeller
The painting depicts the violin virtuoso Willy Burmester (1869-1933). In the late 19th and early 20th century, he was one of the most famous violin virtuosos of his time. The son of a canvas maker and a pianist, he received his first violin lessons at the age of four. From his first concert, which he gave at the age of seven, he was regarded as a musical prodigy. From 1881 to 1895, he trained in Berlin with Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) and worked as a concertmaster in several European orchestras. From 1895, he worked exclusively as a soloist. Contemporary critics ranked him above Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908) for his outstanding technique. His subtle tone and his interpretations of Mendelssohn were particularly famous. He also appeared with smaller compositions and classical arrangements which, however, did not find their way into the repertoire.
Sound example
Johann Sebastian Bach
Gavotte en rondeau from the Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006.1
Recording from 1909
Violin: Willy Burmester
The picture is by the painter Jakob Zeller (1880-1948). After training at the academies in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, he returned to his hometown of Hamburg. Here he established himself as a highly sought-after portrait painter and private art teacher. From 1921, he was a member of the Hamburg Artists' Association and later the Hamburg Artists' Association.
His portraits were so popular because he depicted the subjects in a conservative and dignified pose. In addition to the painting of Burmeister, he also painted portraits of Berthold Litzmann (1920) and Thomas Mann (1935), among others. Landscapes were also among his preferred subjects.
Jakob Zeller was Jewish and was expelled from the Hamburg artists' association in 1933 and banned from practicing his profession four years later. His wife committed suicide as a result of the National Socialist reprisals. Jakob Zeller went to the Netherlands in 1937 and had to move several times, but was able to survive the Nazi regime.
He did not return to Germany, but stayed in the Dutch city of Heerlen, where he died in 1948 after suffering from a heart condition.
The picture of Willy Burmester was originally owned by Giorgio Silzer (1920-2014), former first violinist at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. At the age of sixty, he retired prematurely from concert life due to weak eyesight.
What followed was the pursuit of his second passion, art collecting. He had a particular soft spot for international Art Nouveau and Art Deco. He had already begun to collect art during his numerous concert tours - and very extensively at that. The Grassi Museum in Leipzig alone houses 12 of his collections. In 1985, he offered the portrait of Willy Burmester to the university for 30,000 marks. As the university did not have this sum, the patron Eberhard Lohs stepped in, bought the painting and donated it to the university.