By Eileen Wingard
LA JOLLA, California — It was difficult to select the 2 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 18, program for Treasures of the Jewish Music Collection: Great Jewish Pianists, because there are so many of them.
It finally got narrowed down to 13 pianists, beginning with the two greats of the 20th century, Artur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz. The free recorded program will take place in the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center’s Astor Judaica Library. To register: click REGISTER
My guest will be the Russian-born piano soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue, Irina Bendetsky. She graduated from the Gniessen Conservatory in Moscow and was a classmate of Evgenyi Kissin, one of the great Jewish pianists in the program.
Since moving to San Diego, Bendetsky has soloed with the La Jolla Symphony, the Jewish Community Symphony and other Southern California ensembles. She is the pianist in the Encore Trio with Ondrej Lewit, violin and Yesenia Babayan, cello and has also served on the music faculty of USD. Currently, she maintains a private studio. Irina will be introducing six of the pianists and I will introduce the remaining seven.
The oldest pianist on the program is Artur Schnabel who was born in 1882 in Lipnik, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now part of Poland. The family moved to Vienna when their son was two because they already recognized his musical talents. At 15, he made his debut recital and concertized in Prague and Berlin. He taught at the Music Conservatory in Berlin before fleeing to England in 1933 when Hitler came to power. His mother, who remained in Vienna, was deported to Terezin, where she died in 1942. He recorded the first complete set of Beethoven Sonatas.
I recall hearing Schnabel perform Beethoven Concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and remember his impressive precision and profundity. I also heard anecdotes about his teaching from Sylvia Kunin, the founder of the Young Musicians Foundation in Los Angeles, who studied with him for several years. Although he came to the United States in 1939, taught at the University of Michigan and became a US citizen, he returned to Europe, living his last years in Switzerland.
a photographic memory and innate musicality. He was born in Lodz, then part of the Russian empire, now part of Poland, the youngest of seven children. The family moved to Berlin, where Joseph Joachim, after hearing the four-year-old boy play, secured a teacher for him, a disciple of Liszt.
At 13, Rubinstein made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under the Hungarian-born Jewish conductor, Artur Nikisch. He had a vast repertoire, including Spanish and South American composers and performed throughout the world. Most of his family was annihilated during the Holocaust.
Rubinstein was a great supporter of Israel, soloing often with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and giving master classes at the Jerusalem Music Center. In his honor, the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition was established in Israel.
I still recall his performance in 1975 at a benefit concert of the San Diego Symphony when the great artist was 88 years old. It was under the baton of our Hungarian-born conductor, Peter Eros. Playing violin in the orchestra that accompanied this great artist was one of the musical highlights of my life.
Other great Jewish pianists, whose artistry will be heard during the recorded program, will be Vilna-born Nadia Riesenberg, Odessa-born Emil Gilels, Lvov-born Emanuel Ax, and Tashkent-born Yefim Bronfman.
Bronfman lived in Israel and studied there from the time he was 15, and Ax was the first-place winner of the Rubinstein Competition when Rubinstein, himself served as one of the judges. The pair are frequent performers in San Diego, with the San Diego Symphony and under the auspices of the La Jolla Music Society.
London-born Myra Hess, Bohemian-born Rudolf Serkin, Buenos Aires-born Martha Argerich, Bronx-born Murray Perhahia and Budapest-born Andras Schiff complete the playlist for the program. Each pianist will be introduced by a brief biographical sketch.
It is remarkable how many of the great pianists, particularly during the 20th century, were Jewish.
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Eileen Wingard is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.
I remember Yefim Bronfman when he first left the Soviet Union for Israel. I was playing with the Jerusalem Symphony at the time and thought him completely amazing then. He is still completely amazing.
And Martha Argerich often collaborates with Mischa Maisky on cello sonatas. A celebrated pairing.