David Oistrakh
David Oistrakh | |
---|---|
Давид Ойстрах | |
Odessa Conservatory | |
Years active | 1914–1974 |
Spouse |
Tamara Rotareva (m. 1928) |
Children | Igor Oistrakh |
Awards | |
Signature | |
David Fyodorovich Oistrakh
Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin works, including both of Dmitri Shostakovich's violin concerti and the violin concerto by Aram Khachaturian. He is considered one of the preeminent violinists of the 20th century.[2]
Life and career
Early years
Oistrakh was born to a
In 1914, at the age of six, Oistrakh performed his debut concert. He entered the
In Moscow
In 1927, Oistrakh relocated to
From 1934 onwards, Oistrakh held a position teaching at the Moscow Conservatory, and was later made professor in 1939. Some of his colleagues while teaching at the conservatory included Yuri Yankelevich and Boris Goldstein. Oistrakh taught Oleg Kagan, Valery Klimov (who later succeeded Oistrakh's position at the Moscow Conservatory), Emmy Verhey, Oleh Krysa, Gidon Kremer, Yulia Brodskaya (Julia Verba), Eduard Dayan, Zoya Petrosyan, Jean Ter-Merguerian, Victor Danchenko, Victor Pikaizen,[7][8] Cyrus Forough, Olga Parhomenko, and his son Igor Oistrakh. In the 1950s, David Oistrakh invited Yulia Brodskaya to be his assistant in teaching solo and chamber music and Rosa Fine as his assistant for solo students.
From 1940 to 1963, Oistrakh performed extensively in a trio that also included the cellist Sviatoslav Knushevitsky and the pianist Lev Oborin. It was sometimes called the "Oistrakh Trio". Oistrakh collaborated extensively with Oborin, as well as Jacques Thibaud, a French violinist.
During World War II
During World War II he was active in the Soviet Union, premiering new concerti by
International travel
Oistrakh was allowed to travel after the end of the war. He travelled to the countries in the Soviet bloc and even to the West. His first foreign engagement was to appear at the newly founded "Prague Spring" Festival where he was met with enormous success. In 1949 he gave his first concert in the West – in Helsinki. In 1951, he appeared at the "Maggio Musicale" Festival in Florence, in 1952 he was in East Germany for the Beethoven celebrations, France in 1953, Britain in 1954, and eventually, in 1955, he was allowed to tour the United States.[1] By 1959, he was beginning to establish a second career as a conductor, and in 1960 he was awarded the coveted Lenin Prize. His Moscow conducting debut followed in 1962, and by 1967 he had established a partnership with the celebrated Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter.
Later years
The year 1968 saw wide celebrations for the violinist's sixtieth birthday, which included a celebratory performance in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory of the Tchaikovsky concerto, one of his favourite works, under the baton of Gennady Rozhdestvensky. Oistrakh was now seen as one of the great violinists of his time, alongside fellow Russian Nathan Milstein, Romania's George Enescu and Lithuanian-born Jascha Heifetz.
Oistrakh suffered a
Distinctions
Oistrakh received many awards and distinctions. Within the Soviet Union, David Oistrakh was awarded the
Oistrakh's fame and success were not limited to the Soviet Union: he was placed second at the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Warsaw, after the 16-year-old prodigy Ginette Neveu, and further improved upon that by winning the grand prize in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.
The
Instruments
Oistrakh is known to have played at least seven Stradivarius violins owned by the Soviet Union. He initially selected the 1702 Conte di Fontana Stradivarius, which he played for 10 years before exchanging it for the 1705 Marsick Stradivarius in June 1966, which he played until his death (Interview included in "The Art of Violin" DVD, NVC Arts, 2000).
Oistrakh used bows by Albert Nürnberger and André Richaume throughout his life. Up until 1957, he used a Nürnberger bow. "The André Richaume bow bought by his son Igor Oistrakh in 1957 had filled David with such enthusiasm that Igor made a gift of it."[10] Oistrakh had remarked that this (Richaume) bow gave him great satisfaction, so much so that when in Paris he had to meet Richaume in person.[10]
Chess
Oistrakh was an avid chess player in the 1930s, when Stalin's government was actively encouraging its best minds to pursue chess as a hobby. His 1937 match against the composer Sergei Prokofiev was a widely observed event in the Soviet Union and is seen as an important factor in the game's enduring popularity in ex-Soviet nations today.[11] Oistrakh handily defeated Prokofiev in the ten-game match; Prokofiev resigned after seven games. Only one game transcript survives, and it records a draw between the two players.[12]
Honours and awards
- Soviet
- Two Orders of Lenin– 1946 and 1966
- Two Orders of the Badge of Honour – 1937 and ?
- People's Artist of the USSR, 1953
- Stalin Prize, 1st class – 1943
- Lenin Prize – 1960
- Honoured Artist of the RSFSR
- Foreign
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of Finland – 1966
- Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold II, Belgium – 1967
Awards
- Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With or Without Orchestra) – 13th Annual Grammy Awards, 1971, Brahms: Double Concerto 17th Annual Grammy Awards, 1975, Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1[13]
- Grammy Hall of Fame – 2003
Recordings
Oistrakh made recordings for the state classical music label, Melodiya. These recordings were marketed in the west under EMI Records and in the U.S.A. under Angel Records. He made a few guest recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Ormandy. These were issued by Columbia Records. In the 21st century, many of the Melodiya recordings have been reissued by Warner Classics, whose parent company acquired EMI's classical catalog.
Legacy
There is a yearly music festival, "The David Oistrakh Festival", from late August to October in Estonia.[14] Moscow International David Oistrakh Violin Competition is a biennial competition for young violinists held since 2006 in memory of David Oistrakh, organized by the non-profit David Oistrakh Charity Foundation.[15] The competition, supported by Moscow government's Department of Culture, the Ministry for Culture of Russia and the Moscow Conservatory, is a member of the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth.[16]
The competition aims to popularize and develop the best traditions of Russian violin performance, and to discover young musicians.
See also
- Moscow International David Oistrakh Violin Competition
Notes
References
- ^ a b c Sheetz, Kathleen. David Oistrakh. Encyclopaedia Britannica
- ^ "The 20 Greatest Violinists of All Time" Archived 30 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine, BBC Music Magazine, 14 September 2016.
- ^ "Гений скрипки". АЛЕФ.
- ^ "Birth and circumcision records of David Oistrakh in the office of the city rabbi of Odessa (1908)". Retrieved 25 November 2021.
- ^ David Oistrakh in the list of people evacuated to Sverdlovsk (1942)
- ^ Beyla Oistrakh in the list of people evacuated to Sverdlovsk (1942)
- ^ Music in the USSR. VAAP-INFORM. 1989.
We repeated it almost word for word at the meeting of the musical society in the district centre of Sirvintos, attended by Igor Oistrakh, Khalida Akhtyamova, Victor Pikaizen, the pupils of the great David Oistrakh to whose memory are devoted the courses of the highest performing skill
- ^ The Strad – Volume 95. Orpheus. 1984. p. 413.
He left a number of recordings as a conductor, the most interesting being those in which he accompanied string soloists: Harold in Italy with Barshai (Oistrakh did not make a recording of this work playing the viola, although it was in his regular repertory) and concertos with Oleg Kagan, Igor Oistrakh, Viktor Pikaizen, and Rosa Fain, all pupils of his. Which brings us to one of the most enduring monuments to Oistrakh's genius – his success as a pedagogue
- ^ Soroker, Yakov (1982) David Oistrakh. Lexicon Publishing, Jerusalem. p. 139.
- ^ ISBN 2-9515569-0-X.
- ^ Albert, Silver. The 1937 Profokiev-Oistrach Match. chessbase.com
- ^ Richard James. Chess and Music: Part 4. chessimprover.com
- ^ "David Oistrakh | Artist | GRAMMY.com". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ Loominguliste stipendiumide konkurss 2022/1. oistfest.ee. 13 July 2022
- ^ "Давиду Ойстраху посвящается/Dedicated to David Oistrakh". Moskovskaya Pravda (in Russian). Moscow. 14 August 2008. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
- ^ "Moscow International David Oistrakh Violin Competition". Member competitions. EMCY. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
Further reading
- Yuzefovich, Victor (1977). David Oistrakh: Conversations with Igor Oistrakh.
- Roth, Henry (1997). Violin Virtuosos: From Paganini to the 21st Century. California Classic Books. ISBN 1-879395-15-0.
- Applebaum, Sam. The Way They Play. Vol. 4.