Yelisaveta Grigoryevna Gilels

Emil Gilels and the young Elisabeth Gilels

Elizabeth (Elisabeth) Grigoryevna Gilels (last name also Gilels-Kogan and Kogan , Russian Елизавета Григорьевна Гилельс , English transliteration Yelizaveta Grigoryevna Gilels , scientific transliteration. Elizaveta Grigor'evna Gilel's , * the thirtieth September 1919 in Odessa ; † 13. March 2008 in Moscow ) was a Soviet violinist and music teacher . She was the sister of the pianist Emil Gilels , the wife of the violin virtuoso Leonid Kogan and the mother of the conductor Pawel Kogan and the pianist Nina Kogan .

life and work

Elisabeth Gilels was born in 1919 in Odessa into a Jewish family. Her father, Grigori Gilels, was a worker in the sugar refinery and her mother, Esfira Gilels, was a housewife. Elisabeth had several siblings, including children from previous marriages of both of her parents. Although the family was not directly integrated into a music scene, they produced two outstanding musicians: first Emil Gilels and three years later Elisabeth herself.

In Odessa, the bourgeoisie cultivated the musical culture despite difficult economic times. Greatest attention was paid to musically gifted children. There was a grand piano in the modest apartment of the Gilels family in the Moldavanka district. At the age of two, Emil showed an interest in touching the keys and listening to the sounds produced. He was also interested in other sounds such as the music of brass bands, singing or the ringing of bells. Little Elisabeth was therefore surrounded by music from an early age.

Elisabeth began her violin studies with the famous pedagogue Pjotr ​​Stoljarski , whose star students included David Oistrach , Nathan Milstein and Boris Goldstein . Later she studied with Abram Jampolski in Moscow. At the beginning of her career, she formed a duo with her brother. In 1937 she won the Ysaÿe competition (later Queen Elisabeth competition) in Brussels. Stoljarski's students caused a sensation at this competition, as David Oistrach, Boris Goldstein, Jelisaweta Gilels and Michail Fichtenholz won the highest prizes. The results of the meetings left a deep impression. The first prize was awarded to David Oistrach without much discussion. The Soviet school also won all other prizes. All other schools, especially the Belgian violin school, had to be content with the "crumbs". The Belgian violin school, which was still a source of Belgian national pride, failed in this competition. Her complete absence from the finals received a lot of comment. Arthur Grumiaux and Carlo Van Neste , both young and inexperienced, could not convince the jury at the time.

It was only after the Second World War that Elisabeth formed a duo with Leonid Kogan. Their Bach Double Concerto performance became famous and they also managed to bring some of the less frequently performed pieces and works such as Mieczysław Weinberg's sonata to the public. From 1966 she taught at the Moscow Conservatory, where she was appointed professor in 1987. She was an accomplished artist and had a great influence on her students. Despite her own artistic achievements, she was mainly “only” perceived as the wife of Leonid Kogan and the sister of Emil Gilels.

literature

• operamusic.com: Elizabeth Gilels. Retrieved October 25, 2018 . 

Web links

• Elisabeth Gilels at Discogs (English)