(This biography was excerpted from Lev Ginsburg's Volume 3 of "The Art of the Violoncello" pp. 255–259, translated by Yuriy Leonovich).

Vladislav Franzovich Aloiz’s twenty-year tenure in St. Petersburg was preceded by a similar period of performing activity in other Russian cities. Of Czech origin, he was born on July 1, 1860, in Prague and was originally named Alois Muzikant ("Alois" being his first name and "Muzikant" his surname). In 1873, he entered the Prague Conservatory and graduated in 1879 under the tutelage of F. Hegenbart, performing his teacher's concerto brilliantly at his final exam.

From then on, the talented cellist’s career became inseparably linked with Russia, particularly with the musical life of its capital and other cities. Aloiz belongs to the ranks of numerous Czech musicians who, upon settling in Russia, greatly contributed to the fruitful development of Russian-Czech musical ties.

After graduating from the conservatory, Aloiz was invited to join the faculty of the Music School of the Russian Musical Society (RMO) in Kyiv. At the time, several of his fellow countrymen were already active there, including violinist Otakar Ševčík and bassoonist Karel Duda. The following year, violinist Váša Suk, who would later become a renowned conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, also began working in Kyiv.

In Kyiv, Aloiz frequently performed as a soloist, presenting concertos by Servais and De Swert, pieces by Popper, Klengel, and Cossmann, as well as his own compositions, including a concerto, a sonata, and other works. He regularly appeared in chamber ensembles. On November 7, 1880, Aloiz performed his own sonata with Mykola Lysenko, the founder of the Ukrainian national music school. He also played in trios and quartets with musicians such as Otakar Ševčík, Eugène Ysaÿe, and others.

In a quartet with Ševčík, Serbulov, and Ryb, he frequently participated in performances of Russian, foreign, and particularly Czech music. During this time, Aloiz maintained ties with his homeland, visiting during vacations and preserving connections with Czech culture. Shortly after the 1881 fire that destroyed the Prague National Theatre, Aloiz and Ševčík gave a series of concerts in Czech towns (Horažďovice, Rokycany, and others) to raise funds for rebuilding the theater, performing as both soloists and accompanists.

In 1886, Aloiz became a professor at the Music Institute in Warsaw, where he also played in the opera orchestra and participated in concerts. Among his students was S. V. Vilkonsky, who later became a professor at the Kyiv Conservatory. Vilkonsky remembered Aloiz as "an excellent cellist, equally skilled at the piano" and an extraordinarily demanding teacher.

In 1891, Aloiz moved to Odesa, where he taught at the Music School (1891–1893) and served as concertmaster of the opera orchestra. He continued both his solo and chamber concert careers, performing in quartets with musicians such as Friman, Popov, and Zlatogorsky, as well as Havrylov, Kless, and Nemirovsky. He often played in ensembles with the Czech violinist Josef Karbulka.

In 1895, Aloiz premiered his Trio in Odesa, accompanied by Karbulka and pianist F. S. Fayerman, receiving acclaim from the audience. That same year, he performed concertos by Molique and Servais, pieces by Boccherini and Bruch, as well as his own compositions. In 1897, Aloiz was the first in Odesa to perform Rubinstein’s concerto.

Contemporary reviews of Aloiz during this period describe him as "an artist in the full sense of the word, possessing not only good tone but also remarkable technique."

A notable event during Aloiz's time in Odesa was his meeting with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who visited Odesa in the final year of his life (January 12–25, 1893). In a concert of the great composer’s works on January 16, 1893, Aloiz performed Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme with orchestra under the composer’s baton. This was likely the only, or at least the last, performance of this work conducted by Tchaikovsky himself.

According to some accounts, during his visit, Tchaikovsky sat at the piano and shared with Aloiz sketches for a cello concerto he had begun to envision. Later, in a letter to L. A. Kupernik on May 17/29, 1893, Tchaikovsky mentioned Aloiz, expressing his appreciation for him as a musician.

During these years, Aloiz also performed in other cities across Russia, playing works by Davydov, Tchaikovsky, and other composers. In October 1897, for example, he gave a highly successful concert in Zhytomyr.

At the end of that year, Aloiz was invited to join the Court Orchestra in St. Petersburg as a soloist, where he remained, it seems, until the end of his life. In 1901, following the death of K. K. Marx-Markus, Aloiz took on the role of professor of cello at the Imperial Chapel. Starting in 1905, he began teaching cello and chamber music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, becoming a professor in 1909.

He frequently participated in chamber concerts in St. Petersburg, notably performing in ensembles with Leopold Auer. Aloiz was among the performers in the first-ever performance of Reinhold Glière's Sextet in 1902. He also occasionally appeared as a soloist.

The playing of this talented cellist was distinguished by its warm, beautiful tone, musical phrasing, and exceptional technique. Particularly notable was his lively interest in Russian cello music.

V. F. Aloiz passed away in 1918 in St. Petersburg.

As a composer, Aloiz left behind two cello concertos, sonatas for violin and piano and for cello and piano (in D major), a piano trio, orchestral works (including a Slavonic Dance), and piano and cello pieces, the latter published in Warsaw, are especially noteworthy. The Romance (Op. 9), Lullaby (Op. 18), and Tarantella (Op. 20) were published in Leipzig, and Jurgenson published Five Pieces (Op. 47) in Moscow.

A single-movement Cello Concerto No. 2 by Aloiz, published in Kyiv by Butkevich, holds pedagogical significance (within the framework of the Music Institute). Its themes are distinctly Slavic in their melodic expression and emotional appeal.

The concerto includes an extensive cadenza; alongside cantabile episodes, which sometimes exhibit folk-inspired intonations, Aloiz employs intriguing virtuosic techniques in this section.