Violinist and sometime conductor Wolfgang Schneiderhan was a highly versatile artist, just as much at home in the music of Hans Werner Henze as in Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert, even if he is best known for his playing of the last-named group of composers. Never quite a household name, he was nevertheless active in every aspect of Austria's music scene and was widely admired for the depth of his interpretive abilities. Born in Vienna on May 28, 1915, Schneiderhan was taught violin by his mother from age three and gave his first concert at five. In 1926, in Copenhagen, he played Mendelssohn's violin concerto, and he subsequently toured Europe, hailed as a prodigy. However, the fast-money life of a touring virtuoso demoralized the young violinist, and he turned his career in a new direction: with the help of a recommendation from an aristocratic patroness, he became concertmaster of the new Vienna Symphony at 17. Four years later, he moved on to the same post with the Vienna Philharmonic, where he served under the great conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler and Hans Knappertsbusch. That year, he also formed the Schneiderhan Quartett. In the 1940s, he performed duo sonatas with Wilhelm Backhaus and other top-rank soloists, and he formed a trio with pianist Edwin Fischer and cellist Enrico Mainardi in 1948. He married Irmgard Seefried that year and often performed with her as well over their 40-year marriage. Schneiderhan's solo career took off once again when he resigned his Philharmonic concertmaster post in 1949, at age 34. For many years, he ruled the roost among Deutsche Grammophon's stable of violin soloists. At first, he was identified with the core Viennese Classical repertoire, but he later became interested in contemporary music and explored the works of Henze, Stravinsky, and other composers. He co-founded the Lucerne Festival Strings in 1956 and also taught at the Lucerne Music Academy. In the 1970s, Schneiderhan undertook yet another new career: after studying with Hans Swarowsky, he became active as a conductor. In 1975, he led a performance of Franz Schmidt's Notre Dame at the Vienna Volksoper. Much in demand as a teacher in his later years, Schneiderhan continued to live in Vienna, where he died on May 18, 2002. Since his death, many of his recordings have appeared in archival reissues on such labels as Deutsche Grammophon, BBC Legends, and Orfeo; among these, in 2019, was his recording of Schubert's piano trios with cellist Boris Pergamenschikow and pianist Paul Badura-Skoda. ~ James Manheim, Rovi