Starting music lesson ats an early age, Fitzenhagen learned the piano, cello and violin and was capale enough to substitute for members of his father's orchestra in the wind section. He was appointed as Hofkapellmeister in Dresden and gave cello performances in Leipzig, Weimar (impressing Liszt) and Moscow where he became a professor in the Conservatory. Forming a friendship with Tchaikovsky, Fitzenhagen was the first to perform his string quartets, piano trios and the "Variations on a Rococo Theme" as a member of The Russian String quartet. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi