Maria Epstein Levinskaya (born circa 1885 – 6 August, 1960), often known as Madame Levinskaya, was a Russian pianist, a pupil of

Vasily Safonov Vasily Ilyich Safonov (russian: Васи́лий Ильи́ч Сафо́нов, link=no, ; 6 February 185227 February 1918), also known as Wassily Safonoff, was a Russian pianist, teacher, conductor and composer. Biography Vasily Safonov, or S ...

at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

. But she also worked with many other teachers - 19 in all, including

Leopold Godowsky Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. (13 February 1870 – 21 November 1938) was a Lithuanian-born American virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher. He was one of the most highly regarded performers of his time, known for his theories concernin ...

in Berlin,

Isidor Philipp Isidor Edmond Philipp (first name sometimes spelled Isidore) (2 September 1863 – 20 February 1958) was a French pianist, composer, and pedagogue of Jewish Hungarian descent. He was born in Budapest and died in Paris. Biography Isidor Philipp ...

in Paris and

Tobias Matthay Tobias Augustus Matthay (19 February 185815 December 1945) was an English pianist, teacher, and composer. Biography Matthay was born in Clapham, Surrey, in 1858 to parents who had come from northern Germany and eventually became naturalised Brit ...

in London - "some celebrated, others obscure, from whom I tried to glean a ray of light". She made her debut as a pianist in Cologne in 1913, appeared in England as a soloist under

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hund ...

Dan Godfrey Sir Daniel Eyers "Dan" Godfrey (20 June 1868 – 20 July 1939) was a British music conductor and member of a musical dynasty that included his father Daniel Godfrey (1831–1903). His son, also Dan Godfrey, was also a musician, station man ...

and others, and set up her own piano school in London in 1925. With

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

and Safanov she helped establish the Russian school of piano playing, emphasising arm weight alongside older finger techniques. She published the ''Levinskaya System of Piano Technique and Tone Colour'' in 1930. According to Robert Palmieri the Levinskaya System incorporated the weight relaxation principles first put forth by

Rudolf Maria Breithaupt Rudolf Maria Breithaupt (11 August 1873 – 2 April 1945) was a German composer and music educator (piano). Life Born in Braunschweig, Breithaupt attended the grammar school in Braunschweig. He studied jurisprudence, then philosophy, psycholog ...

. She followed scientific and physiological research, and came up with a method of eliminating musician's cramp.Obituary, ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 101, No. 1412 (October 1960), pp. 647-648 From the early 1920s until the late 1930s Levinskaya enjoyed a very high profile, both musically and socially. She taught piano, performed recitals and gave educational lectures from her studios at No. 50 and later No. 2

Leinster Gardens Leinster Gardens is a street in Bayswater, London. It is lined with tall, ornate, mid-Victorian terraced houses, many of which are listed buildings. Layout Leinster Gardens is mostly made up of a half-lined avenue lined with tall, ornate, m ...

, London W2. These glamorous musical "at homes" soon became famous. The Welsh novelist

Bernice Rubens Bernice Rubens (26 July 1923 – 13 October 2004) was a Welsh novelist.She became the first woman to win the Booker Prize in 1970, for '' The Elected Member''. Personal history Bernice Ruth Reuben was born in Splott, Cardiff on 26 July 19 ...

used her as the model for Madame Sousatzka in the 1962 novel (and subsequent

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

) of the same name. The book was based on the experiences of her brother

Harold Rubens Harold Rubens (1918–2010) was a Welsh pianist and anti-apartheid activist. Early life Born in 1918 in Cardiff, Wales, the son of Eli and Molly Reuben, practising Orthodox Jews of Latvian origin, Harold was the eldest of four siblings, all of w ...

, a child prodigy pianist who began lessons with Levinskaya from the age of seven (in 1925) and became her star pupil. The English composer pianist Constance Warren was also a pupil. In 1919 Levinskaya was charged with stealing a cloak worth £8 18s 6d from the

Marshall & Snelgrove Marshall & Snelgrove was a department store on the north side of Oxford Street, London, on the corner with Vere Street founded by James Marshall (b.1806 Yorkshire – d.22 November 1893). The company became part of the Debenhams group. Histor ...

department store in Vere Street, but was later acquitted. She married George Antonoff, a Russian doctor of science from

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, at the

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

Registry Office on 20 December, 1935. In May 1939 she moved to America with her husband, who became a chemist at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, New York, from where he corresponded with

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

. Levinskaya and her husband are said to have embraced

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

.Maria Levinskaya Antonoff.
Scientific Religion: or Reverent Science, a Synthesis
', World Federation of Islamic Missions (1962) She died in New York in August 1960.

References

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...

, YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Levinskay, Marie 1960 deaths British women classical pianists Pianists from the Russian Empire

References

External links