Elisabeth Leonskaja
Elisabeth Leonskaja | |
|---|---|
 Leonskaja in 2012 | |
| Born | 23 November 1945 |
| Occupation | Classical pianist |
| Website | www |
Elisabeth Leonskaja(born 23 November 1945) (in Russian: Елизавета Ильинична Леонская) is aSovietand Austrianpianist.She was trained in the Russian school of piano. She made an international career after she won the Enesco International Piano Competition in Bucharest in 1964, and has lived in Vienna since 1978.
Life and career
[edit]Leonskaja was born on 23 November 1945 to a family of Jewish and Polish origin living inTbilisi,[1][2]then the capital of theGeorgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
When Leonskaja was six and a half, her parents were able to buy her first upright piano. At 7, she passed the entrance exam of one of Tbilisi's sixty music schools.[3]At 11, she gave her orchestral debut with Beethoven'sPiano Concertoin C major, at 13 her first solo recital. At 14, she began an intense four-year period of study in secondary school with a new piano teacher from Kiev, influenced by the Russian school of piano. In 1964, Elisabeth Leonskaja won theEnesco International Piano Competitionin Bucharest. The judges included the composer and conductorAram Khachaturianand the pianistArthur Rubinstein.[4]
In 1964, Leonskaja began studies in theMoscow Conservatory.During her conservatory years she won prizes in theLong-Thibaud-Crespin Competitionin Paris and theQueen Elisabeth Music Competitionin Brussels.[5]
Leonskaja left the Soviet Union in 1978 and has since then resided in Vienna.[6]A notable recording of hers is ofEdvard Grieg's arrangement for two pianos ofMozart's piano sonatasK. 545andK. 533/494,accompanied bySviatoslav Richter,with whom she built a close friendship and collaboration.[7]She recorded many years forTeldec,now for German label MDG, and presently for several different labels including Warner, who have also re-released a number of recordings. She also gives many masterclasses.[8]
Personal life
[edit]
Leonskaja was married for a short time to the violinistOleg Kagan.[7]
Decorations and awards
[edit]- Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class(2005)[9]
- Honorary citizen ofDeutschlandsberg(1999)[10]
References
[edit]- ^Dervan, Michael."Striving to play without fault".The Irish Times.
- ^"Elisabeth Leonskaja, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London".The Independent.26 January 2007.
- ^"Elisabeth Leonskaja".Radio France.Les Nuits de France Musique.Retrieved21 February2022.
- ^"Elisabeth Leonskaja: Franz Schubert late piano sonatas".13 March 2016.
- ^Papageorgiou, Nicolas."Elisabeth Leonskaja – pianist".Victoria Rowsell Artist Management Ltd.Retrieved21 February2022.
- ^Jean-Pierre Thiollet,88 notes pour piano solo,"Solo nec plus ultra", Neva Editions, 2015, p.51.ISBN978-2-3505-5192-0.
- ^ab"Master Class Piano with Elisabeth Leonskaja".Deutschlandfunk.Retrieved1 June2023.
- ^"Master Class Piano with Elisabeth Leonskaja".Allegro Vivo.Retrieved21 February2022.
- ^"Reply to a parliamentary question"(PDF)(in German). p. 1683.Retrieved4 February2013.
- ^Veronik, Susanne (17 June 2019)."Zwei neue Ehrenbürgerinnen für Deutschlandsberg".meinbezirk.at(in German).Retrieved20 June2021.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Elisabeth Leonskajadiscography atDiscogs
- Q&A: Elisabeth Leonskajatheartsdesk 4 December 2010
- Elisabeth Leonskajanordicartistsmanagement
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1945 births
- Living people
- Musicians from Tbilisi
- Classical pianists from Georgia (country)
- Women pianists from Georgia (country)
- Russian classical pianists
- Russian women pianists
- Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition prize-winners
- Soviet classical pianists
- 20th-century classical pianists
- Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
- Jewish classical pianists
- 21st-century classical pianists
- 20th-century women pianists
- 21st-century women pianists
- Moscow Conservatory alumni