Leonid Kogan

Leonid Borisovich Kogan (Russian Леонид Борисович Коган, scientific transliteration Leonid Borisovic Kogan, born November 14, 1924 in Dnepropetrovsk, † 17 December 1982 in a train on the journey from Austria to the Soviet Union) was a Soviet violin virtuoso Jewish- Ukrainian descent.

Life and work

Leonid Kogan represented alongside David Oistrakh and Eduard Grach, the Russian- Jewish tradition of violin playing. He shunned publicity, which was also a reason that he always stood in the shadow of his friend David Oistrakh. Characteristic of Kogan is that in his interpretations often use force and expressiveness were asked about the beauty of sound, which is not really fit to the interpretation Ideal of the 1950s and 1960s. Also Kogan used vibrato sparingly. To mark his musical style, often the term was used by the "cold fire ".

Kogan was only 58 years old. In his last years his artistic level already took significantly. It seemed that he could not muster the energy to his exhausting game.

At Kogan students count Oleg Kagan, Viktoria Mullova and Alexandre Brussilovsky.

His grave is located on Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery.