Gregor Piatigorsky

Gregor Piatigorsky (originally Григорий Павлович Пятигорский / Grigori Pavlovich Pjatigorski; * 4 Apriljul / April 17 1903greg in Jekaterinoslaw, now Ukraine, .. † August 6, 1976 in Los Angeles ) was an American cellist of Ukrainian descent and one of the important cellists of the mid 20th century.

Life

As the son of musicians Piatigorsky was in Jekaterinoslaw (now Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was born into a Jewish family. For his seventh birthday, he received his first cello. He was, after, teaches the lessons from his own father, a violinist, as little had effectively turned out by local Cello teachers. At the age of eight, he received a scholarship to study at the Moscow Conservatory and performed in Moscow in cafes.

After major disputes with his father Piatigorsky ripped off at the age of 15 years from home and needed now more than ever are struggling to survive. However, due to his extraordinary skills he obtained the post of principal cellist of the Bolshoi Theatre, the orchestra was the largest of the Soviet Union in the same age.

After a dramatic escape across Poland Piatigorsky studied in Germany with Julius Klengel in Leipzig, with Hugo Becker in Berlin. In 1924, he was under Wilhelm Furtwängler included in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, after he had spent several nights as a homeless on benches. As a first cellist he remained until 1929 in this orchestra. Piatigorsky played music along with some of the most outstanding musicians of all: Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Arthur Rubinstein, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Artur Schnabel, Vladimir Horowitz and Bronislaw of Pozniak (1887-1953) included ( as a temporary member of the Pozniak trios ) to His chamber music partners. Later he taught at several American universities. In January 1937, he married Ann Arbor Jacqueline de Rothschild from the banker Rothschild family, sister of Guy de Rothschild. They returned to France, where their first daughter, Jephthah was born in the autumn of the same year. After the German occupation of France in World War II, the family fled to the U.S. and settled in Elizabethtown in the Adirondack Mountains, where in 1940 the son of Joram was born.

Piatigorsky and his wife Jacqueline, even a chess player and artist, were very interested in the game of chess and funded two major tournaments: 1963 in Los Angeles and in 1966 in Santa Monica.

In 1965 published his autobiography cellist Piatigorsky (on German My cello and I and our encounters ), one of the most famous musician autobiographies.

At the age of 73 years Piatigorsky died on August 6, 1976 in Los Angeles of cancer.

Works

• My cello and I and our encounters, 16th edition, Dtv, Munich 1998 ISBN 3-423-20070-7 ( first edition: Tübingen 1968 translation of cellist, Doubleday, 1965).