Boris Goldstein

Boris Goldstein ( Russian Борис Эммануилович Гольдштейн , Boris Emmanuilowitsch Goldstein; born December 25, 1922 in Odessa ; † November 8, 1987 in Hanover ) was a Jewish-German-Russian violinist and music teacher. He was the brother of Michael Goldstein .

Life

Boris ( Busja ) Goldstein was born in Odessa in 1922 as the son of Emanuel Goldstein, who was born in Leipzig in 1884 and had been Professor of Mathematics in Odessa since 1910. His father took Soviet citizenship in 1918. Boris was an outstanding violinist from a young age. As a ten-year-old he played Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's violin concerto on the radio with the Moscow Radio Orchestra , thus establishing a sensational career. His teachers were Pyotr Stoljarski , Abram Jampolski, Lev Zeitlin and Konstantin Mostras. In 1935 Goldstein won a prize at the Henryk Wieniawski violin competition in Warsaw and two years later at the international Ysaÿe competition in Brussels, which was followed by concerts in many European capitals. Musicians such as Fritz Kreisler , Sergei Prokofjew , Jascha Heifetz and Yehudi Menuhin expressed their admiration of Goldstein's playing. After an appearance at the Wieniawski Competition, Heinrich Neuhaus said of the young Goldstein: "You are amazed by the meaningful and mature game, by the sense of style, by the depth and accuracy of his performances, which many masters would envy him for."

In the Soviet Union , Boris Goldstein played regularly on the radio and made recordings of the great works of violin literature and chamber music, including works specially dedicated to him.

In 1974 Boris Goldstein emigrated with his family from what was then the USSR to Germany, where he led a master class from 1976 as part of a professorship at the University of Music in Würzburg . His older brother Michael Goldstein had lived in Germany since 1969. His appearances as a violinist in Germany and Western Europe were high points of his career. From 1981 Boris Goldstein went on many domestic and international tours with his daughter, the pianist Julia Goldstein.

Goldstein was also successful as a teacher: many of his students were winners of international violin competitions, including Zakhar Bron and Alexander Skworzow.

Web links

• Biographical information on Boris Goldstein (Russian)
• Obituary for Boris Goldstein by Bertold Hummel