Karl Ilitch Eliasberg ( be, Карл Ілліч Эліасберг; russian: Карл Ильич Элиасберг) (10 June 1907, in
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
– 12 February 1978, in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
) was a Soviet conductor.
Eliasberg graduated from the
Leningrad Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...
as a violinist in 1929, and was conductor of the Leningrad Theatre of Musical Comedy from 1929 to 1931 before joining Leningrad Radio as conductor.
The siege of Leningrad
Eliasberg was conductor of the
Leningrad Radio Orchestra and only second conductor of the
Leningrad Philharmonic
The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (russian: Симфонический оркестр Санкт-Петербургской филармонии, ''Symphonic Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia'') is a Russian orchestra based ...
but played a part in one key event in
society and culture in Saint Petersburg
This article is about the society and culture in Saint Petersburg. St. Petersburg has always been known for its high-quality cultural life, and its best known museum is the Hermitage Museum, Hermitage.
Music in St. Petersburg
Among the city's more ...
during the
siege of Leningrad when
Dmitri Shostakovich dedicated his
Seventh Symphony to the city as the "Leningrad Symphony." The symphony had already been premiered in
Kuibyshev on 5 March 1942 under
Samuil Samosud
Samuil Abramovich Samosud (russian: Самуи́л Абра́мович Самосу́д) (Tbilisi, Georgia, — Moscow, 6 November 1964), PAU, was a Soviet and Russian conductor.
He started his musical career as a cellist, before becoming ...
, then performed 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 millio ...
(29 March 1942),
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
(22 June 1942) and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
(19 July 1942). When Eliasberg was asked to conduct the
Leningrad première, only 15 members of the orchestra were still available; the others had either starved to death or left to fight the enemy. During the days of the siege of Leningrad, Eliasberg saved many lives by getting musicians to rehearsals and to feeding stations. The concert was given on 9 August 1942 in the Leningrad Bolshoy Philharmonic Hall under the baton of Eliasberg, with artists he had gathered from the main orchestra, the reserve orchestra, and military bands. It was heard over the radio and lifted the spirits of the survivors.
Eliasberg was recognised as a Meritorious Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1944, but after the war
Yevgeny Mravinsky
Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Mravinsky (russian: Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Мрави́нский) (19 January 1988) was a Russian conductor, pianist, and music pedagogue; he was a professor at Leningrad State Conservatory.
Biog ...
returned and blocked Eliasberg's career in Leningrad, so he became a travelling provincial conductor.
Between 1945 and 1975 Eliasberg headlined in Leningrad only three more times – each of them with the Seventh Symphony, each of them with the reserve orchestra. In 1961, he conducted the first movement only. In 1964, there was a reunion of Eliasberg and 22 of the original musicians before a performance in Shostakovich's presence on 27 January 1964; it was the first time they had been together in 22 years. The musicians played in their same seats. Eliasberg said the concert was dedicated to those who had performed then but died since, and the audience gave a standing ovation. Eliasberg later wrote:
:"Those moments do not come often. I cannot explain the feeling I had. The glory of fame and the grief of loss, and the thought that maybe the brightest moments of your life are gone. The city now lives a peaceful life, but no one has the right to forget the past."
The third time was 9 May 1975 three years before his death.
In 1978 Eliasberg died, almost forgotten, and his ashes were buried in a small plot at the back of the
Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery
Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery (russian: Пискарёвское мемориа́льное кла́дбище) is located in Saint Petersburg, on the Avenue of the Unvanquished (Проспект Непокорённых), dedicated mostly to ...
. After the fall of Communism,
Yuri Temirkanov
Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov (russian: Ю́рий Хату́евич Темирка́нов; kbd, Темыркъан Хьэту и къуэ Юрий; born December 10, 1938) is a Russian conductor of Circassian ( Kabardian) origin.
Early life
...
led a resurrection of Eliasberg's reputation and mayor
Anatoly Sobchak
Anatoly Aleksandrovich Sobchak ( rus, Анатолий Александрович Собчак, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ sɐpˈtɕak; 10 August 1937 – 19 February 2000) was a Soviet and Russian politician, a co-author of the ...
arranged for Eliasberg's ashes to be moved to a more suitable grave among the ''Literatorskie Mostki'' at the
Volkovo Cemetery
The Volkovo Cemetery (also Volkovskoe) (russian: Во́лковское кла́дбище or Во́лково кла́дбище) is one of the largest and oldest non- Orthodox cemeteries in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Until the early 20th century i ...
.
Recordings
*
Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
:
German Requiem (rec. 1960),
Symphony No.3 (rec. 1948),
Symphony No. 4 (live concert recording, May 9, 1960),
Double Concerto
A double concerto (Italian: ''Doppio concerto''; German: ''Doppelkonzert'') is a concerto featuring two performers—as opposed to the usual single performer, in the solo role. The two performers' instruments may be of the same type, as in Bach's ...
(rec. 1951, with
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 ...
and
Sviatoslav Knushevitsky
Sviatoslav Nikolayevich Knushevitsky (also seen as Knushevitzky; 19 February 1963) was a Soviet-Russian classical cellist. He was particularly noted for his partnership with the violinist David Oistrakh and the pianist Lev Oborin in a renowned p ...
)
*
Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
:
Symphony No. 4 with soprano
Natalya Rozhdestvenskaya
Natalya Petrovna Rozhdestvenskaya (Наталья Петровна Рождественская) (7 May 1900 – 1 September 1997) was a Russian soprano, wife of conductor Nikolai Anosov and mother of Gennady Rozhdestvensky.
She performed m ...
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
The State Academic Symphony Orchestra "Evgeny Svetlanov" (Государственный академический симфонический оркестр России имени Е. Ф. Светланова) is a Russian orchestra based in Mo ...
. Rec. Oct 19, 1954
*
Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...
:
Symphony No. 7 Leningrad Philharmonic
The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (russian: Симфонический оркестр Санкт-Петербургской филармонии, ''Symphonic Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia'') is a Russian orchestra based ...
. Live concert recording, Jan 27, 1964
*
Sergei Taneyev
Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev (russian: Серге́й Ива́нович Тане́ев, ; – ) was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of composition, music theorist and author.
Life
Taneyev was born in Vladimir, Vladimir Governorate, Russia ...
: Symphonies No. 1 and No. 3
*
J. S. 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 wo ...
Mass in B minor. Live concert recording, April 24, 1957)
In popular culture
The Leningrad Radio Orchestra's performance of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony conducted by Karl Eliasberg is the subject of the 2011 novel ''The Conductor'' by New Zealand author
Sarah Quigley
Sarah Quigley is a New Zealand-born writer.
Background
Sarah Quigley was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on the 1 October 1967. She has an MA Hons from the University of Canterbury and a DPhil in English Literature from the University of ...
.
The concert during the Leningrad siege was commemorated in the 1997 film ''
The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin'' and featured in the documentary ''Leningrad and the Orchestra that defied Hitler'', broadcast on
BBC Two on 2 January 2016. Earlier radio broadcasts by the BBC on the same subject include ''Witness''
and ''
Newshour
''Newshour'' is BBC World Service's flagship international news and current affairs radio programme, which is broadcast twice daily: weekdays at 1400, weekends at 1300 and nightly at 2100 (UK time). Each edition lasts one hour. It consists of ...
''.
BBC World Service, 31 July 2015
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eliasberg, Karl
1907 births
1978 deaths
Musicians from Minsk
20th-century Russian conductors (music)
Russian male conductors (music)
20th-century Russian male musicians
Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni