Elizabeth Gilels (born Yelizaveta Grigoryevna Gilels; russian: Елизаве́та Григо́рьевна Ги́лельс; 30th September 1919 – 13 March 2008) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Biography

Elizabeth Gilels was born on the 30th of September 1919 in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. Her father, Grigory Gilels, was a clerk at a sugar refinery, and her mother, Gesya Gilels, was a housewife. Gilels had multiple siblings, including children from previous marriages, by both of her parents. Despite not being directly connected to the music scene, the family would include two musicians:

Emil Gilels Emil Grigoryevich Gilels (Russian: Эми́ль Григо́рьевич Ги́лельс; 19 October 1916 – 14 October 1985) was a Russian pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. Early life and educatio ...

and Elizabeth. "There was a grand piano, and already at the age of two, little Emil showed interest in it touching keys and listening to them." Consequently, Elizabeth was surrounded by music at an early age. Elizabeth commenced her

studies with pedagogue

Pyotr Stolyarsky Pyotr Solomonovich Stolyarsky (russian: Пётр Соломонович Столярский, uk, Петро Соломонович Столярський), (29 April 1944) was a Soviet violinist and eminent pedagogue, honored as People's A ...

, whose pupils included

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 w ...

Nathan Milstein Nathan Mironovich Milstein ( – December 21, 1992) was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist. Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and ...

, and

Boris Goldstein Boris Goldstein (Busya Goldshtein; 25 December 1922 – 8 November 1987) was a Soviet violinist whose career was greatly hindered by the political situation in the USSR. As a young prodigy, he started violin studies in Odessa with the eminent ped ...

. Later she studied with

Abram Yampolsky Abram Ilich Yampolsky (russian: Абрам Ильич Ямпольский; 1890–1956) was a Soviet violin teacher who nurtured many Soviet virtuosos during his tenure at the Moscow Conservatory. He graduated in Saint Petersburg in 1913 in th ...

(1890–1956) in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Early on in her career, she formed a duo with her brother. In 1937, she became a prize winner of the

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysaÿe ...

competition (later becoming the

Queen Elizabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition ( nl, Koningin Elisabethwedstrijd, french: Concours musical international Reine Élisabeth) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in Brussels. The competition is named after Queen ...

) in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. Top prizes were garnered by Stolyarsky's other students, including

, Boris Goldshtein (Goldstein), Yelizaveta (Elizabeth) Gilels, and

Mikhail Fikhtengoltz Mikhail Izrailevich Fichtenholz (1 June 1920 – 4 June 1985) was a Soviet violinist. A pupil of the eminent pedagogue Pyotr Stolyarsky, he won the national competition for young performers in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) at the age of 15. In 1 ...

. After WWII, she formed a duo with

Leonid Kogan Leonid Borisovich Kogan (russian: Леони́д Бори́сович Ко́ган; uk, Леонід Борисович Коган; 14 November 1924 – 17 December 1982) was a preeminent Soviet violinist during the 20th century. Many consider ...

– Their performance of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

's Double Concerto was quite successful. They also performed other pieces, such as the sonata by Weinberg. Beginning in 1966, Elizabeth Gilels taught at the Moscow Conservatory, where she earned the title of professor in 1987. She published a study book on Scales & Double stops for the

. Outside of the USSR, she was mostly known in a dual role. First, as the wife of

and, second, as the sister of the eminent

. She died in Moscow on 13 March 2008, at the age of 88.

References

*Elena Fedorovich, Ekaterinburg, 2007 *Leonid Kogan Bibliography – M. Zazovsky, L. K. (Moscow, 1956). *"Leonid Borisovich Kogan." BAKER'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MUSICIANS, Centennial Edition. Nicolas Slonimsky, Editor Emeritus. Schirmer, 2001.
Emil Gilels in Memoriam
*Roth, Henry (1997). ''Violin Virtuosos: From Paganini to the 21st Century''. Los Angeles, CA: California Classics Books. *В сб.: Музыкальное исполнительство, в. 6, М., 1970, с. 162—193; - Гринберг М., Пронин В., В классе П. С. Столярского *«Советская музыка», 1972, № 3. - Ойстрах Д., Фурер С., Мордкович Л., О нашем учителе. (К столетию П. С. Столярского) * Emil Gilels – A Portrait (Biography) by Prof. Dr. Elena Federovitch Ekaterinburg, 2007

External links

* * * ttp://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2007/May07/Gilels_MELCD1001116.htm Elizabeth Gilels CD* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilels, Elizabeth 1919 births 2008 deaths Musicians from Odesa Odesa Jews Soviet classical violinists 20th-century classical violinists Women classical violinists 20th-century women musicians Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition