Jacob Latins

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Jacob Latiner (born May 31, 1928 in Havana , † December 12, 2010 in Manhattan ) was an American pianist of Cuban origin. In 1980 Jacob Latiner received the Robert Schumann Prize from the city of Zwickau . He was the older brother of the violinist Isidor Latin .

Early days

Jacob Latiner was born on March 31, 1928 in Havana to Jewish parents who immigrated to Cuba from Poland. However, he was only registered in the registry office on May 31, 1928. Latins studied the piano in Havana from 1936 to 1940. Latiner made his debut as a pianist at the age of 10. In 1938 he played Beethoven's First Piano Concerto with the Havana Philharmonic under the direction of Ernesto Lecuona . Two years later, his parents left Cuba with the children for the United States. Jacob and his brother Isidor were able to study their instruments at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia . Jacob studied with Isabelle Vengerova , Isidor with Ivan Galamian . Both brothers, Jacob and Isidor, made their debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy as teenagers . In 1945, at the age of 16, Jacob played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. In 1947 he performed Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto (Beethoven) with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Festival under the direction of Serge Koussevitzky . From that time on, Latins developed a profound interest in chamber music. He worked his way into this genre of music with the violist William Primrose and the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky .

The mature pianist

In 1948, at the age of 20, Latiner made his concert debut at Carnegie Hall in New York with a program by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Alban Berg. The New York Times praised the musical maturity and technique of Latins shown in this concert. At the age of 21 he recorded his first records with Beethoven's piano sonatas. In 1950 he took a year off to study with Arnold Schoenberg . After this break and three years of military service in the early 1950s, Latiner made his debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Prokofief 's Third Piano Concerto under Franco Autori . In 1954 he toured the USA, Europe and Australia several times, including two appearances with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra . During these years he also began his teaching career at Mannes College of Music .

The teacher

In 1966 Jacob Latiner began his long collaboration with the Juilliard School in New York. Until his retirement, a year before his death, he was one of the institute's leading piano teachers. From 1963 to 1970 he also taught in the piano faculty at Mannes College . Among his students were: Danae Kara , Michael Endres , Bruce Brubaker , Lowell Liebermann , Robert Taub , Laura Karpman , Francesco Tristano Schlimé , David Cates , Sonia Rubinsky , and Tjako van Schie . His teaching activities were characterized by a great research interest in historical performance practice . In 1992 he published the article "An Interpreter's Approach to WA Mozart" in Early Music magazine . He also collected music manuscripts and early editions of classical music.

Sound carrier recordings

In the 1950s, Latiner recorded Beethoven's piano sonatas, Brahms' variations, Beethoven's 5th and Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto for the Westminster label . In the 1960s he made chamber music recordings that were highly regarded by critics and collectors on the RCA Victor label . Beethoven's Piano Trio Op. 1. No. 1 with Heifetz and Piatigorsky. He was the first to record Elliot Carter's Piano Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Erich Leinsdorf. With Jascha Heifetz , Gregor Piatigorsky and the violist Sanford Schonbach , he recorded the C minor piano quartet by Brahms. Parnassus Records has released a 2-CD set with live recordings by Jacob Latiner.

Appreciation

Jakob Latiner was known both as a Beethoven pianist and as an interpreter of composers of the 20th century. He was a member of the YAP's cohort of young American pianists such as Eugene Istomin , Gary Graffman , Claude Frank and Leon Fleisher . Latin was especially known for his technical virtuosity, the beauty and flexibility of the tone, and his deep understanding of music. He tried very hard to fathom the original intentions of the composer.

As a soloist, Latiner has worked with the world's leading orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra , the Berlin Philharmonic , the Boston Symphony Orchestra , the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , the Cleveland Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra and with leading orchestral directors such as Leonard Bernstein , Serge Koussevitzky , Erich Leinsdorf , Zubin Mehta , Georg Solti , Eugene Ormandy and George Szell together. Latiner was an absolute specialist in contemporary American piano music. He commissioned Elliot Carter's piano concerto, performed it for the first time and recorded it on record. With this he had also won the Pulitzer Prize in Music. The first performance of this work took place on January 6, 1967 with Latin as soloist, accompanied by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Erich Leinsdorf. Latiner also performed the third piano sonata by Roger Sessions , composed in 1965, for the first time in 1965.

As a chamber musician, Jacob Laten's name is closely associated with Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky. In the 1960s Latin took part in the Heifetz-Piatigorsky chamber music concerts . Five recordings with this ensemble were made during this period. The recording of Beethoven's trio sonata No. 1 won the Grammy Award for the best chamber music recording of 1965.

Latiner's concert career lasted until the 1990s. After 1967 he had made no commercial recordings of music. Latin died on December 12, 2010 in a New York hospital. At the time of his death he was known for many things, but as a pianist he was almost forgotten. He was a prominent piano teacher who, in addition to teaching at the Juilliard School, had given masterclasses in Europe, Israel, Japan and China. In 2000, Latin became the subject of the commemorative publication “Pianist, Scholar, Connoisseur: Essays in Honor of Jacob Latin” published by the pianist Bruce Brubaker, a former Latin student, and Jane Gottlieb .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tamino Classic Forum: Jacob Latin. Retrieved December 6, 2018 .
  2. ↑ In the English-speaking world, Beethoven's 5th piano concerto is called the Emperor Concerto .
personal data
SURNAME Latin, Jacob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pianist
DATE OF BIRTH May 31, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Havana
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 2010
Place of death Manhattan