Elizabeth Gilels
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Gilels - (b. September 30, 1919 - d.March 13, 2008) was a Soviet violin
ist from a musical family.
, to a Jewish musical family (but neither parent was a professional musician).
Her father was a clerk at a sugar refinery, mother was a housewife having many children. Both parents had children from previous marriages.
However, due to inexplicable reasons the meeting of Esfira and Grigory Gilels produced two outstanding musicians into the world: Emil Gilels
and three years after a daughter Elizabeth, who became an outstanding violinist.
Elizabeth commenced her violin
studies with the eminent pedagogue, Pyotr Stolyarsky whose star pupils include David Oistrakh
, Nathan Milstein
and Boris Goldstein
.
Later she studied with Abram Yampolsky
(1890–1956) in Moscow
. Somehow history has consigned Elizaveta Gilels – ‘Elizabeth Gilels’ in the West - to a dual role, neither of them directly to do with her violin playing: wife of the legendary Leonid Kogan and/or sister of the eminent pianist Emil Gilels
.
"In Odessa
, in spite of the hard times, the public enjoyed music very much. All attention was given to musically gifted children. In a modest Gilels’s flat in a poor and famous district of Odessa called Moldavanka
there was a grand piano and already at the age of two little Emil showed interest in it touching keys and listening to them. He was also interested in other sounds: performance of brass bands, singing, tolling of bells." Little Yelizaveta, consequently was surrounded by music at an early age.
Early on in her career, she’d formed a youthful duo with her brother before taking a prize at the Ysaÿe competition in Brussels
in 1937.
During that year, as the world watched in anticipation one of the most prestigious international competitions of its time, the International Ysaÿe Competition, Stoliarsky students caused a sensation.
Top prizes were garnered by David Oistrakh
, Boris Goldshtein
(Goldstein), Yelizaveta (Elizabeth) Gilels and Mikhail Fikhtengoltz
.
The Soviet Politburo
was indeed riding the propaganda machine to its fullest.
"The results of the sessions created a profound impression: the Soviet school, with an assurance that bordered on arrogance, carried off all the prizes from the first down. The latter was awarded without the slightest discussion to the great David Oistrakh
. Everyone else had to be content with crumbs; the Belgian violin school, though still a source of pride, failed, and its absence at the final was much commented on; Arthur Grumiaux
and Carlo Van Neste, both young and inexperienced, were not able to convince the jury."
It wasn’t until after the War that she formed her duo with Leonid Kogan – their Bach
Double Concerto was famous – and they managed to find and perform some more out-of-the-way pieces, as well as works dedicated to them such as the Weinberg sonata.
From 1966 onwards, she taught at Moscow Conservatory (earned title of professor in 1987).
She was a consummate artist and had a great influence on her students. Elizabeth Gilels has written a Four Octave scale & double stops studies for violin
.
She never taught Ilya Grubert
, Ilya Kaler
, Stefan Jackiw and Sasha Rozhdestvensky, but her niece Zinaida did.
She died on 13 March 2008, at age of 88 in Moscow, Russia.
She is survived by her children Pavel Kogan, Nina Kogan. Grandchildren Dmitry Kogan, Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan & Daniel Milkis.
artists Leonid Kogan and Elisaveta Gilels, began his musical studies at Moscow's Central Music School and continued at the Moscow Conservatory
, where he studied violin with the renowned pedagogue Yuri Yankelevich
. In 1970, at the age of eighteen, he won First Prize and the Gold Medal at the Sibelius International Violin Competition in Helsinki
.
Before turning his full attention to the conductor's podium, he toured throughout Europe, Japan and the United States as a recitalist and guest violin soloist with many leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra
and the Los Angeles Philharmonic
. He is currently Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra.
Pavel's son - Dmitry Kogan was born in 1978 in Moscow
. He began to play violin at the age of six at the Central Musical School of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1996, he began studying at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Igor Bezrodny. He has also studied at the Sibelius Academy
in Helsinki
under Bezrodny and Tuomas Haapanen. His career has taken him to such venues as the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Hall of the Moscow
Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall and London's Royal Festival Hall. His repertoire includes all the major violin concertos.
Nina Kogan - daughter of two legendary violinists, Leonid Kogan and Elisaveta Gilels.
She started studying the piano at the age of six, then attended the Central Music School for Gifted Children. Later she graduated from the Moscow Conservatory
, receiving a D.M.A. with honors in the class of professor Flier.
Nina Kogan is a top prize winner of the M.Long Piano Competition in Paris
.
She began concertizing at the age of 12. At 13 she started performing with her father, Leonid Kogan. Theirs grew into a unique collaboration that lasted almost 16 years until his death in 1982. During these years she was the only pianist he ever performed with. Nina Kogan performs a vast variety of chamber music and gives master classes all over the world.
She has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon
, EMISony, Philips
, Le Chant du Monde
etc.
She has two children, daughter is a prizewinning pianist, Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan and Daniel Milkis is an aspiring concert violinist.
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist from a musical family.
Biography
Born in OdessaOdessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, to a Jewish musical family (but neither parent was a professional musician).
Her father was a clerk at a sugar refinery, mother was a housewife having many children. Both parents had children from previous marriages.
However, due to inexplicable reasons the meeting of Esfira and Grigory Gilels produced two outstanding musicians into the world: Emil Gilels
Emil Gilels
Emil Grigoryevich Gilels was a Soviet pianist, widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.His last name is sometimes transliterated Hilels.-Biography:...
and three years after a daughter Elizabeth, who became an outstanding violinist.
Elizabeth commenced her violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
studies with the eminent pedagogue, Pyotr Stolyarsky whose star pupils include David Oistrakh
David Oistrakh
David Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....
, Nathan Milstein
Nathan Milstein
Nathan Mironovich Milstein 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 for works from the Romantic period...
and Boris Goldstein
Boris Goldstein
Boris Goldstein was one of the brightest stars of violin....
.
Later she studied with Abram Yampolsky
Abram Yampolsky
Abram Ilich Yampolsky was an eminent Soviet violin teacher who nurtured many generations of Russian virtuosos during his tenure at the Moscow Conservatory....
(1890–1956) in Moscow
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
. Somehow history has consigned Elizaveta Gilels – ‘Elizabeth Gilels’ in the West - to a dual role, neither of them directly to do with her violin playing: wife of the legendary Leonid Kogan and/or sister of the eminent pianist Emil Gilels
Emil Gilels
Emil Grigoryevich Gilels was a Soviet pianist, widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.His last name is sometimes transliterated Hilels.-Biography:...
.
"In Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, in spite of the hard times, the public enjoyed music very much. All attention was given to musically gifted children. In a modest Gilels’s flat in a poor and famous district of Odessa called Moldavanka
Moldavanka
Moldavanka is a historical part of Odessa in the Odessa Oblast of southern Ukraine, located jointly on Malinovskiy and Primorskiy city districts. Before 1820 a settlement just outside of Odessa which later engulfed it...
there was a grand piano and already at the age of two little Emil showed interest in it touching keys and listening to them. He was also interested in other sounds: performance of brass bands, singing, tolling of bells." Little Yelizaveta, consequently was surrounded by music at an early age.
Early on in her career, she’d formed a youthful duo with her brother before taking a prize at the Ysaÿe competition in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in 1937.
During that year, as the world watched in anticipation one of the most prestigious international competitions of its time, the International Ysaÿe Competition, Stoliarsky students caused a sensation.
Top prizes were garnered by David Oistrakh
David Oistrakh
David Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....
, Boris Goldshtein
Boris Goldstein
Boris Goldstein was one of the brightest stars of violin....
(Goldstein), Yelizaveta (Elizabeth) Gilels and Mikhail Fikhtengoltz
Mikhail fikhtengoltz
Mikhail Izrailevich Fichtenholz - was a Soviet violinist. A pupil of the eminent pedagogue Pyotr Stolyarsky, he won the national competition for young performers in Leningrad Mikhail Izrailevich Fichtenholz (1 June 1920 - d. 1985) - was a Soviet violinist. A pupil of the eminent pedagogue Pyotr...
.
The Soviet Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
was indeed riding the propaganda machine to its fullest.
"The results of the sessions created a profound impression: the Soviet school, with an assurance that bordered on arrogance, carried off all the prizes from the first down. The latter was awarded without the slightest discussion to the great David Oistrakh
David Oistrakh
David Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....
. Everyone else had to be content with crumbs; the Belgian violin school, though still a source of pride, failed, and its absence at the final was much commented on; Arthur Grumiaux
Arthur Grumiaux
Arthur Grumiaux was a Belgian violinist who was also proficient in piano.-Youth:Grumiaux was born in Villers-Perwin, Belgium to a working-class family, and it was his grandfather who urged him to begin music studies at the age of only 4...
and Carlo Van Neste, both young and inexperienced, were not able to convince the jury."
It wasn’t until after the War that she formed her duo with Leonid Kogan – their Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
Double Concerto was famous – and they managed to find and perform some more out-of-the-way pieces, as well as works dedicated to them such as the Weinberg sonata.
From 1966 onwards, she taught at Moscow Conservatory (earned title of professor in 1987).
She was a consummate artist and had a great influence on her students. Elizabeth Gilels has written a Four Octave scale & double stops studies for violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
.
She never taught Ilya Grubert
Ilya Grubert
Ilya Grubert is a Latvian classical violinist. He has won Paganini Competition and Tchaikovsky Competition in 1978.Born in Riga, Grubert began his studies at the Emil Darzins School of Music. He has studied under Yuri Yankelevich and Zinaida Gilels, and then under Leonid Kogan at the Moscow...
, Ilya Kaler
Ilya Kaler
Ilya Kaler is a Russian violinist. He was born in Moscow.Kaler is the only violinist to win Gold Medals at these three highly prestigious competitions: the International Tchaikovsky Competition ; the Sibelius ; and the Paganini .- Education :Born into a family of an orchestral musician, Ilya Kaler...
, Stefan Jackiw and Sasha Rozhdestvensky, but her niece Zinaida did.
She died on 13 March 2008, at age of 88 in Moscow, Russia.
She is survived by her children Pavel Kogan, Nina Kogan. Grandchildren Dmitry Kogan, Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan & Daniel Milkis.
Gilels / Kogan Dynasty Continues
Pavel Kogan- son of celebrated RussianRussians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
artists Leonid Kogan and Elisaveta Gilels, began his musical studies at Moscow's Central Music School and continued at the Moscow Conservatory
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
, where he studied violin with the renowned pedagogue Yuri Yankelevich
Yuri Yankelevich
Yuri Yankelevich was an eminent Soviet violin teacher who nurtured many generations of Russian virtuosos during his tenure at the Moscow Conservatory.-Life and career:...
. In 1970, at the age of eighteen, he won First Prize and the Gold Medal at the Sibelius International Violin Competition in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
.
Before turning his full attention to the conductor's podium, he toured throughout Europe, Japan and the United States as a recitalist and guest violin soloist with many leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
and the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
. He is currently Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra.
Pavel's son - Dmitry Kogan was born in 1978 in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. He began to play violin at the age of six at the Central Musical School of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1996, he began studying at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Igor Bezrodny. He has also studied at the Sibelius Academy
Sibelius Academy
The Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
under Bezrodny and Tuomas Haapanen. His career has taken him to such venues as the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Hall of the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall and London's Royal Festival Hall. His repertoire includes all the major violin concertos.
Nina Kogan - daughter of two legendary violinists, Leonid Kogan and Elisaveta Gilels.
She started studying the piano at the age of six, then attended the Central Music School for Gifted Children. Later she graduated from the Moscow Conservatory
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
, receiving a D.M.A. with honors in the class of professor Flier.
Nina Kogan is a top prize winner of the M.Long Piano Competition in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
She began concertizing at the age of 12. At 13 she started performing with her father, Leonid Kogan. Theirs grew into a unique collaboration that lasted almost 16 years until his death in 1982. During these years she was the only pianist he ever performed with. Nina Kogan performs a vast variety of chamber music and gives master classes all over the world.
She has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
, EMISony, Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
, Le Chant du Monde
Le Chant du Monde
Le Chant du monde is the oldest French record label and music publishing house in activity. It has been created in 1938.It is particularly known worldwide for its contribution to ethnographic recordings but is better known in France for publishing old classics and new comers of chanson, and...
etc.
She has two children, daughter is a prizewinning pianist, Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan and Daniel Milkis is an aspiring concert violinist.