Erika Morini

Erika Morini (January 5, 1904 - October 31, 1995) was a Jewish Austrian violinist.

Morini was born in Vienna, and received her first instruction from her father, Oscar Morini (originally spelled Oser or Ojser, family name Moritz), who was the director of his own music school in the Imperial capital Vienna, and completed her studies under Otakar Ševčík. Hers was a case of remarkable precocity.

Erika's mother was Malka Morini, née Weissmann. Her father was born at Czernowitz in eastern Galicia, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Erika had 6 siblings:

Her cousin, Louis Morris (Last name Moritz was changed at Ellis Island), was a Clarinetist for John Philip Sousa's band (1907–21)

When she made her début in 1916, with the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra, under Arthur Nikisch, the critics made no allowance for her youth, but spoke of her work as the equal of that of the most famous of the younger generation of violinists. Her American début at the age of seventeen in New York (January 26, 1921) was one of the musical sensations of the year, and since then she performed in the United States often, both in recital and with the foremost orchestras. Shortly after her New York début, she was presented with the Guadagnini violin which had been owned by the celebrated American Violinist Maud Powell, who had died in 1920. In March 1921, Morini made her first recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey, accompanied on the piano by her sister, Alice. She resided in New York after 1938, and began spelling her first name Erica. She made her first visit to London in 1923.

...
Wikipedia