Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Strakosch, Maurice

STRAKOSCH, Maurice, musician, b. in Butschowitz, Moravia, 15 Jan., 1825; d. in Paris, France, 9 Oct., 1887. His father removed to Germany in 1828, and young Strakosch there began the study of music. He soon gained a reputation as an excellent pianist, and was well received in all the European countries in which he travelled. In 1848 he came to the United States, and soon devoted himself entirely to managing operatic troupes, organizing his first company in 1855. In 1852 he married Amalia Patti, a sister of Adelina. His compositions for the piano were at one time very popular, and among them the music of one of Bayard Taylor's songs. He wrote a small volume of “Souvenirs” in French not long before his death. — His brother, Max, b. in Brunn, Moravia, 27 Sept., 1835; d. in New York city, 17 March, 1892, was associated with him in most of his enterprises, and some of the most famous artists travelled under their management, including Parepa-Rosa, Carlotta and Adelina Patti, Karl Formes, Pasquale Brignoli, Italo Campanini, Pauline Lucca, Therese Titjens, Christine Nilsson, and Marietta Alboni.