David Oistrakh | |
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| Давид Ойстрах | |
 Oistrakh in 1956 | |
| Born | David Fishelevich Oistrakh 30 September [O.S. 17 September] 1908 |
| Died | 24 October 1974(1974-10-24) (aged 66) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Burial place | Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia |
| Alma mater |
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| Years active | 1914–1974 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Igor Oistrakh |
| Awards | (see§ Honours and awards) |
| Signature | |
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David Fyodorovich Oistrakh[nb 1] (né Eustrach; 30 September [O.S. 17 September] 1908 – 24 October 1974) was a Soviet Russianviolinist,violist, andconductor. He was also Professor at theMoscow Conservatory,People's Artist of the USSR (1953), and Laureate of theLenin Prize (1960).[1]
Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin works, including both ofDmitri Shostakovich's violin concerti and theviolin concerto byAram Khachaturian. He is considered one of the preeminent violinists of the 20th century.[2]
Oistrakh was born to aJewish family inOdessa,Kherson Governorate,Russian Empire (present dayUkraine). His father was Fischl Eustrach, son of a second guild merchant,[3] and his mother was Beyle Oistrakh.[4][5][6] At the age of five, young Oistrakh began his studies of theviolin andviola as a pupil ofPyotr Stolyarsky.[7] In his studies with Stolyarsky he became very good friends withIosif Brodsky,Nathan Milstein and other violinists with whom he collaborated numerous times after achieving fame since their beginnings as fellow students at the Stolyarsky School.
In 1914, at the age of six, Oistrakh performed his debut concert. He entered theOdessa Conservatory in 1923, where he studied until his graduation in 1926.[1] At the conservatory he also studiedharmony with the composerMykola Vilinsky. His 1926 graduation concert consisted ofBach'sChaconne,Tartini'sDevil's Trill Sonata,Rubinstein'sViola Sonata, andProkofiev'sViolin Concerto No. 1 in D major. In 1927, Oistrakh appeared inKiev as soloist with theGlazunovViolin Concerto in a performance conducted by the composer, which earned the violinist an invitation to play theTchaikovskyViolin Concerto inLeningrad with thePhilharmonic Orchestra underNikolai Malko the following year.
In 1927, Oistrakh relocated toMoscow, where he gave his first recital and met his future wife: the pianistTamara Rotareva (1906–1976). They were married a year later and had one child,Igor Oistrakh, who was born in 1931. Igor Oistrakh later followed his father's path as a violinist, and eventually performed and recorded side by side with his father, includingBach's Double Concerto, which they first recorded in 1951, andMozart'sSinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra. In at least one of the recordings of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, Igor Oistrakh played violin, while his father David played viola.
From 1934 onwards, Oistrakh held a position teaching at theMoscow Conservatory, and was later made professor in 1939. Some of his colleagues while teaching at the conservatory includedYuri Yankelevich andBoris Goldstein. Oistrakh taughtOleg 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,[8][9]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 cellistSviatoslav Knushevitsky and the pianistLev Oborin. It was sometimes called the "Oistrakh Trio". Oistrakh collaborated extensively with Oborin, as well asJacques Thibaud, aFrenchviolinist.
During World War II he was active in the Soviet Union, premiering new concerti byNikolai Miaskovsky andAram Khachaturian as well as two sonatas by his friendSergei Prokofiev. He was also awarded the Stalin Prize in 1942. The final years of the war saw the blossoming of a friendship with Shostakovich, which led to the two violin concertos and the sonata, all of which were to be premiered by and become firmly associated with Oistrakh in the following years. Oistrakh's career was set from this point, although the Soviet Union was "protective" of its people and refused to let him perform abroad. He continued to teach in the Moscow Conservatory, but whenNazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, he went to the front lines, playing for soldiers and factory workers under intensely difficult conditions. Arguably one of the most heroic acts in his life was a performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto to the end in the central music hall during theBattle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942 while central Stalingrad was being massively bombed by the German forces. At least one source indicates that Oistrakh performed there that winter.[10]
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 pianistSviatoslav Richter.
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 ofGennady Rozhdestvensky. Oistrakh was now seen as one of the great violinists of his time, alongside fellow RussianNathan Milstein, Romania'sGeorge Enescu and Lithuanian-bornJascha Heifetz.
Oistrakh suffered aheart attack in 1964. He survived and continued to work at a furious pace. He had already become one of the principal cultural ambassadors for the Soviet Union to the West in live concerts and recordings. After conducting a cycle of Brahms with theConcertgebouw Orchestra, he died from another heart attack in Amsterdam in 1974. His remains were returned to Moscow, where he was interred inNovodevichy Cemetery.
Oistrakh received many awards and distinctions. Within the Soviet Union, David Oistrakh was awarded theStalin Prize in 1942, the title ofPeople's Artist of the USSR in 1953, and theLenin Prize in 1960. He also won the 1935Soviet Union Competition. Several reputable works from the standard violin repertoire are dedicated to Oistrakh, including a concerto by Khachaturian, two concerti by Shostakovich, and several other pieces.
Oistrakh's fame and success were not limited to the Soviet Union: he was placed second at theHenryk Wieniawski Violin Competition inWarsaw, after the 16-year-old prodigyGinette Neveu, and further improved upon that by winning the grand prize in theQueen Elisabeth Competition inBrussels.
Theasteroid42516 Oistrach is named in honour of him and his son, the violinistIgor Oistrakh.
Oistrakh is known to have played at least sevenStradivarius violins owned by the Soviet Union. He initially selected the 1702Conte 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 byAlbert Nürnberger andAndré 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."[11]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.[11]
Oistrakh was an avidchess 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 composerSergei 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.[12] 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.[13]
Awards
Oistrakh made recordings for the state classical music label,Melodiya. These recordings were marketed in the west underEMI Records and in the U.S.A. underAngel Records. He made a few guest recordings with thePhiladelphia Orchestra under the direction ofEugene Ormandy. These were issued byColumbia Records. In the 21st century, many of the Melodiya recordings have been reissued byWarner Classics, whose parent company acquired EMI's classical catalog.
There is a yearly music festival, "The David Oistrakh Festival", from late August to October inEstonia.[15]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.[16] The competition, supported byMoscow government's Department of Culture, theMinistry for Culture of Russia and theMoscow Conservatory, is a member of theEuropean Union of Music Competitions for Youth.[17]
The competition aims to popularize and develop the best traditions of Russian violin performance, and to discover young musicians.
Oistrakh, David Fyodorovich (1908–1974) ... he studied under Pyotr Stolyarsky from the age of five until his graduation from the Odessa Conservatory (playing both violin and viola) in 1926.
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
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
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