David Oistrakh

David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor.

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.

Life and career

Early years

Oistrakh was born to a Jewish family in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire (today part of Ukraine). His father was Fischl Eustrach, son of a second guild merchant, and his mother was Beyle Oistrakh. At the age of five, young Oistrakh began his studies of the violin and viola as a pupil of Pyotr Stolyarsky. In his studies with Stolyarsky he became very good friends with Iosif 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 the Odessa Conservatory in 1923, where he studied until his graduation in 1926. At the conservatory he also studied harmony with the composer Mykola Vilinsky. His 1926 graduation concert consisted of Bach's ''Chaconne'', Tartini's ''Devil's Trill Sonata'', Rubinstein's ''Viola Sonata'', and Prokofiev's '' Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major''. In 1927, Oistrakh appeared in Kiev as soloist in Glazunov ''Violin Concerto'' in a performance conducted by the composer, which earned the violinist an invitation to play the Tchaikovsky ''Violin Concerto'' in Leningrad with the Philharmonic Orchestra under Nikolai Malko the following year.

In Moscow

In 1927, Oistrakh relocated to Moscow, where he gave his first recital and met his future wife: the pianist Tamara 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, including Bach's Double Concerto, which they first recorded in 1951, and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante. In at least one of the recordings of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, Igor Oistrakh played violin, while Oistrakh played viola.

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), Zoya Petrosyan