Jean Ter-Merguerian ( hy, Ժան Տեր-Մերկերյան; Marseille, 5 October 1935 – Marseille, 29 September 2015) was a French-Armenian

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

violinist and violin pedagogue.

Biography

Jean Ter-Merguerian has got the first prize for violin at the Marseille Conservatoire at the age of 11. In the same year, his first recital took place, where he performed Vivaldi's Concerto in A minor and Mendelssohn's Concerto in E minor with conductor André Audoli. In 1947 he immigrated in Soviet Armenia, where he continued his musical studies in Yerevan with prof. Karp Dombaïev and then in the Moscow Conservatory in the class of

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 ...

. Jean Ter-Merguerian is a prizewinner of international violin competitions, such as

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

(1956),

Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

in Moscow, Queen Elisabeth in Bruxelles (1963). He also got the first Grand Prix at the

Long-Thibaud Competition The Long–Thibaud–Crespin Competition is an international classical music competition for pianists, violinists and singers that has been held in France since 1943. (A Jacques Thibaud Competition was held the year before in Bordeaux: Jacques ...

in Paris (1961). Along with his concert activities, in ex-USSR, Western Europe, Lebanon, South America, the United States, and Canada, he gave lectures at the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory. He got the title of "People's Artist of the Armenian SSR". In 1981 he moved to his birthplace of Marseille. In 1975, during his USA tour, he played in Boston the Violin Concerto by Brahms; The story goes that, at the conclusion of the concert, the conductor Arthur Fiedler, who was very hard to please and given to lavishing praise, embraced the young violinist on stage with paternal love and wished him success. This was the ringing endorsement of the talent of Jean Ter Merguerian, who had just given his first performance in the United States. His solo performances were accompanied by orchestras of different countries conducted by famous conductors, also

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenian ...

having conducted his own violin concerto. Jean Ter-Merguerian was also member of juries of international competitions: "Paganini" in Genoa, Italy, "Sarasate" in Pamplona, Spain, "Tchaikovsky" in Moscow an
"Khachaturian"
in Yerevan. He lived in France, giving master classes there and abroad. He played on a ''Nicolò Amati'' violin. Jean Ter-Merguerian died of cancer, after a long illness at his home, in Marseille, on 29 September 2015. He is survived by his wife, the pianist Lilia, his son Vagram and his daughter.

Bibliography

* Jean Ter-Merguerian - L'Âme du violon (Ջութակի հոգին / Violin's soul), 176 pages, 2012, Armenian, Russian, French ,

Quotes from colleagues (in original language)

* „J'ai une grande admiration pour Jean. Sa sonorité, sa technique et sa musicalité sont parfaites. ...C'est un très grand artiste, un violoniste sensationnel...“ (

Zino Francescatti René-Charles "Zino" Francescatti (August 9, 1902 – September 17, 1991) was a French virtuoso violinist. Zino Francescatti was born in Marseilles, to a musical family. Both parents were violinists. His father, who also played the cello, had stu ...

) * „Le violoniste le plus doué de sa génération.“ (

Henryk Szeryng Henryk Szeryng (usually pronounced ''HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g'') (22 September 19183 March 1988) was a Polish violinist. Early years He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname "Szeryng" is a Polish ...

) * „Jean Ter-Merguerian n'est pas seulement un grand violoniste, il est un grand artiste.“ (

Christian Ferras Christian Ferras (17 June 1933 – 14 September 1982) was a French violinist. Early years Ferras was born at Le Touquet in 1933. He began studying the violin with his father. He entered the Conservatoire de Nice as a student of Charles Bistesi i ...

) * „La pus belle technique d'archet du monde tout instrument à corde confondu.“ (

Mstislav Rostropovitch Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was wel ...

) * „Jean Ter-Merguerian is a gentleman among violinists. He has extraordinary technical skills and a deep musicality.“ (Jonathan Dove, ''

The Strad ''The Strad'' is a UK-based monthly classical music magazine about string instrumentsprincipally the violin, viola, cello and double bassfor amateur and professional musicians. Founded in 1889, the magazine provides information, photographs and re ...

'')

Recordings

No official recital and concerts recordings by Jean Ter-Merguerian exists. Only two CD-Rs of live and archive broadcast material have been released (CD-R 1 : "Selection from Performances" / CD-R 2 : "Khachaturian 100th"). The 1966 Armenian Radio broadcast recording of Bach ''Double Concerto'' is part of a 2CDs compilation dedicated to his colleague, the violinist

Anahit Tsitsikian Anahit Tsitsikian ( hy, Անահիտ Ցիցիկյան; born Leningrad, August 26, 1926; death Yerevan, May 2, 1999) was an Armenian female violinist. She toured around the world through more than 100 cities during the Soviet times; she taught ...

. In 1999 Jean Ter-Merguerian recorded his only commercial release
Gérard Gasparian
s ''Violin Sonata (1990)'', with the composer himself at the piano (CD Timpani 1C1055).
Gwyn Parry Jones (MusicWeb International) Armenian Radio TV archives are full of Jean Ter-Merguerian's recordings, yet to be discovered. In 2020 Rhine Classics label has released a 5CD box dedicated to his art "The soul of violin"
RH-016 , 5CD , JEAN TER-MERGUERIAN - violin’s soul

Live, private, radio TV archives, uncommercial

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ter-Merguerian, Jean 1935 births 20th-century French male classical violinists 2015 deaths French people of Armenian descent Musicians from Marseille Armenian violinists French emigrants to Armenia Tchaikovsky Secondary Music School alumni Moscow Conservatory alumni