Saint Petersburg Conservatory
Encyclopedia
Music school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.
History
The conservatory was founded in 1862 by the Russian pianistPianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
. On his resignation in 1867, he was succeeded by Nikolai Zaremba
Nikolai Zaremba
Nikolai Ivanovich Zaremba was a Russian musical theorist and composer.Zaremba was born in the province of Vitebsk in 1821. He was one of the original professors at the St. Petersburg Conservatory when it was founded in 1862. In 1867, he succeeded Anton Rubinstein as the director of the...
. Rimsky-Korsakov joined the faculty in 1871 and the conservatory has borne his name since 1944. In 1887, Rubinstein returned to the Conservatory with the goal of improving overall standards. He removed inferior students, fired and demoted many professors, made entrance and examination requirements more stringent, and revised the curriculum. In 1891, he resigned again over the Imperial demand of racial quotas.
The current building was erected in the 1890s on the site of the old Bolshoi Theatre of Saint Petersburg and still preserves the grand staircase and landing from that historic theatre. As the city changed its name in the 20th century, the conservatory was duly renamed Petrograd Conservatory (Петроградская консерватория) and Leningrad Conservatory (Ленинградская консерватория).
Today, it is a renowned Russian composition school whose graduates have included such notable composers as Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
, Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Artur Kapp
Artur Kapp
Artur Kapp was an Estonian composer.Born in Suure-Jaani, Estonia, then part of the Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire, he was the son of Joosep Kapp, who was also a classically trained musician...
, and Rudolf Tobias
Rudolf Tobias
Rudolf Tobias was the first Estonian professional composer, as well as a professional organist. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory...
. The youngest musician ever admitted to the Conservatory was five-year old violinist Clara Rockmore
Clara Rockmore
Clara Rockmore was a virtuoso performer of the theremin, an electronic musical instrument.-Biography :Born as Clara Reisenberg in Vilnius, Lithuania, Rockmore was a child prodigy on the violin and entered the Imperial conservatory of Saint Petersburg at the age of five...
, who later became one of the world's foremost theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
players. During the 1960s, Shostakovich taught at the conservatory, which brought it additional fame. Amongst his pupils were German Okunev
German Okunev
German Grigoryevich Okunev was a Soviet Russian composer, pianist and teacher.-Life:Okunev's father was an engineer; his mother was a dressmaker. From the age of 8 he attended a musical school in Leningrad. He graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Leningrad, where he studied with O...
and Boris Tishchenko
Boris Tishchenko
Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko was a Russian and Soviet composer and pianist.-Life:...
.
Directors and rectors
- Anton RubinsteinAnton RubinsteinAnton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
(1862 — 1867) - Nikolai ZarembaNikolai ZarembaNikolai Ivanovich Zaremba was a Russian musical theorist and composer.Zaremba was born in the province of Vitebsk in 1821. He was one of the original professors at the St. Petersburg Conservatory when it was founded in 1862. In 1867, he succeeded Anton Rubinstein as the director of the...
(1867 — 1871) - Mikhail Azanchevsky (1871 — 1876)
- Karl Davydov (1876 — 1887)
- Anton RubinsteinAnton RubinsteinAnton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
(1887 — 1891) - Alexander GlazunovAlexander GlazunovAlexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
(1905 — 1928, as of 1918 — rector)
Notable faculty
- Leopold AuerLeopold AuerLeopold Auer was a Hungarian violinist, teacher, conductor and composer.-Early life and career:...
(violinViolinThe 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....
) - Vladimir BakaleinikovVladimir BakaleinikovVladimir Romanovich Bakaleinikov, also Bakaleynikov and Bakaleinikoff was a Russian-American violist, music educator, conductor and composer.Bakaleinikov, the son of a noted clarinetist, was from a large musical family who lived in poverty...
(violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
) - Louis BrassinLouis BrassinLouis Brassin was a Belgian pianist, composer and music educator. He is best known now for his piano transcription of the Magic Fire Music from Wagner's Die Walküre.-Career:...
(pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) - Edouard GrikurovEdouard GrikurovEdouard Grikurov was a Russian opera conductor. He conducted the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirov Opera Orchestra, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, and the Chorus and Orchestra of the Maly Theatre of Leningrad....
(conductingConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
) - Artur LembaArtur LembaArtur Lemba was an Estonian composer and piano teacher, and one of the most important figures in Estonian classical music. Artur and his older brother Theodor were the first professional pianists in Estonia to give concerts abroad. Artur's 1905 opera Sabina was the first opera composed by an...
(piano) - Nikolai MalkoNikolai Malko-Biography:Malko was born in Semaky, Ukraine. His father was Ukrainian, his mother Russian. He studied philology at St Petersburg University. He published articles on music criticism in the Russian press and performed as a pianist and later a conductor. In 1906 he completed his studies in history...
(conducting) - Ilya Musin (conducting)
- Leonid Nikolayev (piano)
- Cesare PugniCesare PugniCesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...
(violin, counterpointCounterpointIn music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
, compositionMusical compositionMusical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
) - Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
(compositionMusical compositionMusical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
, orchestrationOrchestrationOrchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
) - Anton RubinsteinAnton RubinsteinAnton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
(piano, the history of piano literature) - Nikolai TcherepninNikolai TcherepninNikolai Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in Saint Petersburg and studied under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory...
(conducting) - Sergei SlonimskySergei SlonimskySergei Mikhailovich Slonimsky is a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist and musicologist.-Biography:He is a son of Soviet writer Mikhail Slonimsky and a nephew of the Russian-American composer Nicolas Slonimsky. He studied at the Musical College in Moscow from 1943 until 1950. From 1950 Slonimsky...
(composition) - Aleksandr VerzhbilovichAleksandr VerzhbilovichAleksandr Valerianovich Verzhbilovich was a Russian classical cellist of Polish descent.His name also appears as Verzhbilovic, Verzhibilovic, Vierzbilovich, Wierzbillowicz, Wierzbiłłowicz, Wierzbilovich, Wierzbilovicz, and Wierzbilowicz...
(celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
) - Dr. Georgiy GinovkerDr. Georgiy GinovkerDr. Georgiy Ginovker was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was principal cellist of Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra for many years. His primary teachers include Mstislav Rostropovich and Aleksander Schtrimer. A winner of several international competitions, Ginovker has appeared as a...
(ello
Notable graduates
- George BalanchineGeorge BalanchineGeorge Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
– choreographer - Richard BurginRichard BurginFor the American writer, see Richard Burgin Richard Burgin was a Polish-American violinist, best known as associate conductor and the concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra .-Early life:...
- violinist, conductor - Alexander K.Borovsky – pianist
- Leonid DesyatnikovLeonid DesyatnikovLeonid Arkadievich Desyatnikov is a Russian composer.Leonid Desyatnikov was born in 1955 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He is a graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory, where he studied composition and instrumentation. Desyatnikov has penned four operas, several cantatas and numerous vocal and instrumental...
- composer - Sergei DiaghilevSergei DiaghilevSergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
- impressario - Heino EllerHeino EllerHeino Eller was an Estonian composer and composition teacher.Eller was born in Tartu, where he took private lessons in violin and music theory, played in several ensembles and orchestras, and performed as violin soloist. In 1907 he entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory to study violin. From...
- composer - Valery GergievValery GergievValery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,...
- conductor - Jascha HeifetzJascha HeifetzJascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...
- violinist - Alexander IlyinskyAlexander IlyinskyAlexander Alexandrovich Ilyinsky was a Russian music teacher and composer, best known for the Lullaby , Op. 13, No. 7, from his orchestral suite "Noure and Anitra", and for the opera The Fountain of Bakhchisaray set to Pushkin's poem of the same name.Alexander Ilyinsky was born in Tsarskoye Selo...
- Anatoli Ivanov- composer, conductor, percussionist
- Mariss JansonsMariss JansonsMariss Ivars Georgs Jansons is a Latvian conductor, the son of conductor Arvīds Jansons. His mother, the singer Iraida Jansons, who was Jewish, gave birth to him in hiding in Riga, Latvia, after her father and brother were killed in the Riga Ghetto...
- conductor - Alfrēds KalniņšAlfrēds KalniņšAlfrēds Bruno Jānis Kalniņš was a Latvian composer, organist, pedagogue, music critic and conductor; the founder of national Latvian opera. Kalniņš is primarily remembered for his national opera Baņuta .- Course of life :Kalniņš took piano and violin lessons at an early age...
- composer, organist - Artur KappArtur KappArtur Kapp was an Estonian composer.Born in Suure-Jaani, Estonia, then part of the Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire, he was the son of Joosep Kapp, who was also a classically trained musician...
- composer - Yuri KhanonYuri KhanonYuri Khanon is a pen name of Yuri Feliksovich Soloviev-Savoyarov , a Russian composer. Prior to 1993, he wrote under a pen name Yuri Khanin, but later transformed it into Yuri Khanon, spelling it in a pre-1918 Russian style as ХанонЪ. Khanon was born on Juny 16, 1965 in Leningrad...
- composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, writerWriterA writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, laureate of the European Film Awards. - Eduard KhilEduard KhilEduard Anatolyevich Khil , sometimes anglicised as Edward Hill, is a Russian baritone singer and a recipient of the People's Artist Award of the RSFSR.- Early life :...
- singer and internet sensation - Miroslav KultyshevMiroslav KultyshevMiroslav Kultyshev is a Russian classical pianist and was awarded second prize at the 2007 International Tchaikovsky Competition .-Early life and education:...
- Anatoly Lyadov
- Witold MaliszewskiWitold MaliszewskiWitold Maliszewski , was a Polish composer, first Rector and founder of Odessa Conservatory and professor at Warsaw Conservatory, pupil of N. Rimsky-Korsakov.- Biography :...
- Nathan MilsteinNathan MilsteinNathan 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...
- violinist - Anna NetrebkoAnna NetrebkoAnna Yuryevna Netrebko is an Russian operatic soprano. She now holds dual Russian and Austrian citizenship and currently resides in Vienna. She has been nicknamed "La Bellissima" by fans.-Biography:...
- Nevsky String QuartetNevsky String QuartetNevsky String Quartet is a string quartet based in St. Petersburg, Russia. They are noted for their award-winning performances of Russian music and their performances of contemporary music.-History and Repertoire:...
- Nikolai ObukhovNikolai ObukhovNikolai Borisovich Obukhov was a modernist and mystic Russian composer, active mainly in France. An avant-garde figure who took as his point of departure the late music of Scriabin, he fled Russia along with his family after the Bolshevik Revolution, settling in Paris...
- composer - Leo OrnsteinLeo OrnsteinLeo Ornstein was a leading American experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century...
- composer - Sergei ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
- composer - Dimitri TiomkinDimitri TiomkinDimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin was a Russian-born Hollywood film score composer and conductor. He is considered "one of the giants of Hollywood movie music." Musically trained in Russia, he is best known for his westerns, "where his expansive, muscular style had its greatest impact." Tiomkin...
- pianist, composer - Sergei RachmaninoffSergei RachmaninoffSergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
- pianist, composer - Clara RockmoreClara RockmoreClara Rockmore was a virtuoso performer of the theremin, an electronic musical instrument.-Biography :Born as Clara Reisenberg in Vilnius, Lithuania, Rockmore was a child prodigy on the violin and entered the Imperial conservatory of Saint Petersburg at the age of five...
- Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri ShostakovichDmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
- composer - Grigory SokolovGrigory SokolovGrigory Lipmanovich Sokolov is a concert pianist, often considered one of the greatest pianists alive. He was born April 18, 1950 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.-Biography:...
- pianist - Vladimir SofronitskyVladimir SofronitskyVladimir Vladimirovich Sofronitsky was a Russian pianist, best known as an interpreter of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, whose daughter he married.-Biography:Vladimir Sofronitsky was born to a physics teacher father and a mother from an artistic family...
- pianist - Yuri TemirkanovYuri TemirkanovYuri Khatuevich Temirkanov is a Russian conductor of Circassian origin.Yuri Temirkanov has been the Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic since 1988.-Early life:...
- conductor - Léon ThereminLéon ThereminLéon Theremin was a Russian and Soviet inventor. He is most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments. He is also the inventor of interlace, a technique of improving the picture quality of a video signal, widely used in video and television technology...
- Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
- composer - Solomon VolkovSolomon VolkovSolomon Moiseyevich Volkov is a Russian journalist and musicologist. He is best known for Testimony, which was published in 1979 following his emigration from the Soviet Union in 1976...
- musicologist - Ivan YershovIvan YershovIvan Vasiliyevitch Yershov or Ershov , born November 8, 1867 - died November 21, 1943, was a Russian opera singer. He earned renown for his brilliant performances at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, performing some of the most demanding roles written for the dramatic tenor...
- singer - Anna YesipovaAnna YesipovaAnna Yesipova was a prominent Russian pianist. Her name is cited variously as Anna Esipova; Anna or Annette Essipova; Anna, Annette or Annetta Essipoff; Annette von Essipow; Anna Jessipowa.Yesipova was one of Teodor Leszetycki's most brilliant pupils...
- pianist - Maria YudinaMaria YudinaMaria Veniaminovna Yudina was an influential Soviet pianist.Yudina was born to a Jewish family in Nevel, Russia. She studied at the Petrograd Conservatory under Anna Yesipova and Leonid Vladimirovich Nikolayev. She also briefly studied privately with Felix Blumenfeld. Her classmates included...
- pianist - Valery Viktorovich ZhelobinskyValery Viktorovich ZhelobinskyValery Viktorovich Zhelobinsky was a Russian composer and pianist.-Life and works:Zhelobinsky studied music firstly at Tambov and then from 1928 to 1932 at the Leningrad Conservatory with Vladimir Shcherbatov. He performed across the Soviet Union as a soloist...
- pianist, composer - Sasha MäkiläSasha MäkiläSasha Aleksi Mäkilä is a Finnish conductor and currently Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra.-Biography:Sasha Mäkilä, born in Kerava, Finland, first studied cello at the Helsinki Conservatory before starting his conducting studies with Leonid Korchmar at the Rimsky-Korsakov State...
- a Finnish conductor - Gagik Gaboyan - bassoonist
- Gal Rasché - conductor
- Aleksandra Kroutikova - singer
External links
- Official site (in Russian and English)