Vronsky & Babin were regarded by many as one of the foremost duo-

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

teams of the twentieth century. Vitya Vronsky (''Viktoria Mikhailovna Vronskaya'', 22 August 190928 June 1992) was born in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

n city of

Yevpatoria Yevpatoria ( uk, Євпаторія, Yevpatoriia; russian: Евпатория, Yevpatoriya; crh, , , gr, Ευπατορία) is a city of regional significance in Western Crimea, north of Kalamita Bay. Yevpatoria serves as the administrative ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Victor Babin (''Viktor Genrikhovich Babin'', 13 December 19081 March 1972) was born 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 ...

, Russia. They both died in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, United States.

Biography

Vronsky graduated from the Kiev Conservatory at the age of 13 and began a brilliant concert career as a soloist. In

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1933 while she was studying with Artur Schnabel (she also studied in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

with

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...

and Egon Petri), she met another of Schnabel's students (who also studied composition with

Franz Schreker Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality (a mixture ...

), her future husband Victor Babin. Soon thereafter they formed the duo piano team of Vronsky & Babin, once described by ''Newsweek'' magazine as "the most brilliant two-piano team of our generation", and embarked on a career as duo

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

s that took them all over the world. Vronsky & Babin were introduced to American audiences through their recordings of the piano music of

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

, who became their friend and mentor. Their recordings were issued by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, Columbia,

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

and

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

. Despite a break from performance during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

during which Babin served in the Armed Forces and Vronsky worked with war casualties in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

hospitals, the duo still managed to perform over 1,200 concerts in North America alone. In 1961, Babin became Director of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where both he and Vronsky served on the Institute's faculty. Victor Babin also composed a Concerto for Two Pianos, which is in the repertoire of the Contiguglia brothers, ''Variations on a Theme of Purcell'' (cello and piano), ''Hillandale Waltzes'' (8 waltz movements on a theme by

Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the Transition from Classical to Romantic music, transition from the Classical period (music), Classical to the Romantic ...

, clarinet and piano), a song cycle ''Beloved Stranger'', chamber music, as well as arrangements for two pianos of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

's ''Tango'' and the Waltz from Tchaikovsky's '' Eugene Onegin''. His other works included a Capriccio for orchestra, a ''Konzertstück'' for violin and orchestra, a string quartet, a Sonata-Fantasia for cello and piano, the solo piano works ''Fantasia, Aria and Capriccio'' and ''Deux Mouvements dansantes'', and for two pianos, he wrote Six Studies, ''Three Fantasies on Old Themes'', and ''Three March Rhythms''.Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954,

Eric Blom Eric Walter Blom (20 August 188811 April 1959) was a Swiss-born British-naturalised music lexicographer, music critic and writer. He is best known as the editor of the 5th edition of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1954). Biogr ...

, ed. Babin died in 1972, and Vronsky continued to teach and perform until her death in 1992. Their pupils included Paul Schenly and

Nohema Fernández Nohema Fernández (born May 23, 1944) is a Cuban-born American pianist. Early life and education Born in Havana, Fernández began her formal musical studies with famed teacher César Pérez Sentenat, continuing later with María Jones de Castro a ...

. Vronsky was awarded the rank of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Humanities by the French government in 1972 and served as a judge for the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition. Babin was awarded an honorary Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico.

References

External links

Victor Babin collection
at the International Piano Archives at Maryland (accessed 12 Jul 2013)
Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: Victor Babin

Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: Vitya Vronsky
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vronsky And Babin Cleveland Institute of Music faculty Piano pedagogues Ukrainian classical pianists Babin Classical piano duos Musicians from Kyiv Babin People from Yevpatoria Pupils of Artur Schnabel Married couples Musicians from Shaker Heights, Ohio 20th-century classical pianists Jewish classical pianists Male–female musical duos