Victor Polatschek

Austrian clarinetist and clarinet teacher (29 January 1889 – 27 July 1948).
He was principal clarinetist with the Orchester Der Wiener Staatsoper and Wiener Philharmoniker and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Chotzen, Böhmen (today Choceň), Polatschek began studying clarinet in 1903 at the Conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (today University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna) with the then principal clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmonic, Franz Bartolomey, who is considered the founder of the Viennese clarinet school. He graduated in 1907 and studied harmony with Hermann Grädener at the same institution in 1909/10. After a successful audition, Polatschek became the first clarinettist of the Vienna State Opera/Vienna Philharmonic in 1913. His engagement was interrupted by the First World War, as he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces. After the war, Polatschek was given a temporary teaching assignment at the Academy of Music, which had been renamed "Akademie" in the meantime, and on 1 September 1921 he was officially appointed professor of clarinet there. Among his most important students were Rudolf Jettel, Leopold Wlach and Alfred Boskovsky. At the request of the conductor Serge Koussevitzky, Polatschek accepted the solo clarinet position with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1930. He resigned from his position with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1932 as well as his professorship at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He played with Boston until his death in 1948. Polatschek taught clarinet both at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and Tanglewood Summer Festival, where David Glazer was as student of his. On 27 July 1948, the clarinettist died of a heart condition aged 59 in Lenox, Massachusetts, just hours before he was to take part in a series of Bach-Mozart concerts at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna Festival.

Although Polatschek was a leading clarinettist of his time and also appeared as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, there are no solo recordings of him. The only chamber music recording he participated in was Stravinsky's Histoire du soldat, which was recorded under the direction of Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood in the summer of 1947. His tenure as an orchestral musician with the Boston Symphony Orchestra resulted in several recordings featuring Polatschek on first clarinet, such as Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony in E minor, Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (both in 1944) and Richard Strauss' Don Juan (1946), all conducted by principal conductor Koussevitzky.