Gerhard Taschner

Gerhard Taschner (25 May 1922 – 21 July 1976) was a noted German violinist and teacher.

Taschner was born in Krnov (in German, Jägerndorf), Czechoslovakia, of Moravian origins. After studying with his grandfather, he played Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 at his debut in Prague, when aged only 7. He studied with Jenő Hubay in Budapest 1930-32, and with Bronisław Huberman and Adolf Bak in Vienna. At age 10, he played three concertos with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Felix Weingartner. By age 17, having undertaken tours in the United States and Germany, he was concertmaster at the City Theatre of Brno. In 1941, still aged only 19, he was chosen by Wilhelm Furtwängler as Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, while also forging a solo career. He attracted immediate attention, and his portrait was used on advertisements for the orchestra's upcoming programs.

In 1943, aged 21, he married the 37-year-old pianist Gerda Nette-Rothe. She then became known as Gerda Nette-Taschner.

In the dying days of the Second World War, the sacked German munitions minister Albert Speer devised a plan to protect the players of the Berlin Philharmonic from the invading Soviet forces. They would play a concert under Robert Heger and then be whisked away to a safe location out of Berlin. Gerhard Taschner played the Beethoven Violin Concerto. At the end of the concert, however, the players voted to remain in Berlin, in solidarity with their patrons, who were unable to escape. However, Taschner left in a car driven by Speer's chauffeur, taking with him his wife, two children, and the daughter of another musician. They took refuge in Thurnau. From 1946 to 1950 he lived in Rüdesheim am Rhein.

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