Composer · 1814-1856
Theodor Döhler
Biography
Döhler, Theodor (von)
(b Naples, 20 April 1814; d Florence, 21 Feb 1856). Austrian-Jewish pianist and composer.
As an infant prodigy he was Benedict's pupil in Naples, after 1825. In about 1829 he went to Vienna to study the piano with Czerny and composition with Sechter. In 1836 he began a series of international tours as a virtuoso. In Paris he was judged less remarkable than Thalberg, but an appearance as composer and soloist at a Conservatoire concert on 13 April 1838 gained him recognition. Further journeys to Germany and the Netherlands culminated in a stay at St Petersburg in 1843–5. Raised to the nobility by the influence of his patron the Duke of Lucca, he married the Russian Princess Chermetev in 1846. After this he gave no more public performances and settled in Florence in 1848. There, in 1880, his opera Tancreda was performed. Döhler wrote chiefly piano music, including a concerto op.7.