Szigeti was born Joseph "Jska" Singer[1] to a Jewish family in Budapest, AustriaHungary.

His mother died when he was three years old, and soon thereafter the bo
y was sent to live with his grandparents in the little Carpathian town of Mramaro
s-Sziget (hence the name Szigeti). He grew up surrounded by music, as the town b
and was composed almost entirely of his uncles. After a few informal lessons on
the cimbalom from his aunt,[2] he received his first lessons on the violin from
his Uncle Bernat at the age of six.[3]
Szigeti quickly showed a talent for the violin. Several years later, his father
took him to Budapest to receive proper training at the conservatory. After a bri
ef stint with an inadequate teacher, Szigeti auditioned at the Franz Liszt Acade
my of Music and was admitted directly into the class of Jeno Hubay, without the
usual delays and formalities.[4]
Hubay, who had been a student of Joseph Joachim in Berlin, had by that time esta
blished himself as one of the preeminent teachers in Europe and a fountainhead o
f the Hungarian violin tradition.[5] Szigeti joined such violinists as Franz von
Vecsey, Emil Telmnyi, Jelly d'Arnyi and Stefi Geyer in Hubay s studio.
"Preludio" from J.S. Bach's Partita No. 3 in E major
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The young Szigeti. Recorded 1908.
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In those days, Europe produced a great many child prodigies, inspired by the phe
nomenal success of the young Czech virtuoso Jan Kubelk and formed by rigorous tea
ching and enthusiastic parents. The Hubay studio was no exception; Szigeti and h
is fellow wunderkinder performed extensively in special recitals and salon conce
rts during their study at the Liszt Academy.
In 1905, at the age of thirteen, Szigeti made his Berlin debut playing Bach's Ch
aconne in D minor, Ernst's Concerto in F-sharp minor, and Paganini's Witches Dan
ce. Despite the formidable program, the event received mention only by a photogr
aph in the Sunday supplement of the Berliner Tageblatt captioned: "A Musical Pro
digy: Josef Szigeti".[6]
Hubay (left) and Szigeti, c. 1910
Szigeti spent the next few months with a summer theater company in a small Hunga
rian resort town, playing mini-recitals in between acts of folk operetta. In tha
t same vein, the next year he played at a circus in Frankfurt, where he appeared
under the pseudonym "Jska Szulagi".[7] Also in 1906, Hubay took Szigeti to play
for Joseph Joachim in Berlin. Joachim was impressed, and suggested that Szigeti
should finish his studies with him. Szigeti declined the offer, both out of loya
lty to Hubay and a perceived aloofness and lack of rapport between Joachim and h
is students.[8]