Eduard Rappoldi

Eduard Rappoldi, real name Eduard Rappold (21 February 1839 – 16 May 1903) was an Austrian violinist and composer.

Born in Vienna, Rappoldi played piano and violin as a child. At the age of seven he already performed his own compositions. He was a pupil of Leopold Jansa and Josef Böhm and from 1854, a student at the Konservatorium der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna with Georg Hellmesberger Sr..

Bis 1861 war Rappoldi Mitglied des Wiener Hofopernorchesters. Nach seiner Zeit als Konzertmeister an der Deutschen Oper in Rotterdam war Rappoldi Kapellmeister in Lübeck, Stettin und Prag und arbeitete ab 1871 als Lehrer für Violine an der Königliche Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. 1876 wurde Rappoldi zum königlich-sächsischen Professor ernannt. Von 1877 bis 1893 unterrichtete Rappoldi Violine am Dresden Conservatory. Until his retirement in 1898 he was court concertmaster at the Semperoper of Dresden.

Rappoldi composed two string quartets, small symphonies and piano violin sonatas as well as about 30 songs.

In 1870, he met the pianist Laura Kahrer (1853-1925), whom he married four years later. Rappoldi had five children with her, one of them was the violinist Adrian Rappoldi (1876–1948).

Rappoldi died in Dresden at the age of 64.