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Frits Hartvigson

Danish pianist and composer (b. 31 May 1841 at Grenaa, Jutland; d. 1919 in Copenhagen), born Frits Seligmann Hartvigson.

His first piano instructors were his mother and Anton Rée. In 1859 he went to Berlin, where he studied under Hans von Bülow. He moved to London in 1864, where he gave regular concerts at the Crystal Palace and the Philharmonic Society. On 17 March 1877 [N.S.] he performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 at the Saint James's Hall in London, for the first time in its revised version.

From 1872 to 1875 he lived in Russia, and when he returned to London was appointed pianist to the Princess Alexandra of Wales. He was made a knight of the Order of Dannebrog by the King of Denmark. He was an honorary member and (from 1888) a professor at the Royal Academy of Music.

Tchaikovsky's correspondence with Frits Hartvigson:

• 4 letters from Tchaikovsky to Frits Hartvigson have survived, dating from 1877 to 1893.