Karl Ilyich Eliasberg

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Karl Ilyich Elias Mountain ( Russian Карл Ильич Элиасберг ; born May 28 . Jul / 10. June  1907 greg. In Minsk ; † 12. February 1978 in Leningrad ) was a Soviet conductor .

Eliasberg studied at the Leningrad Conservatory and graduated as a violinist in 1929. In 1931 he became the conductor of the Leningrad Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The Siege of Leningrad and Shostakovich's 7th Symphony

Eliasberg was the conductor of the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Leningrad and only second conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic . During the siege of Leningrad he was commissioned to conduct a performance of the 7th Symphony ( Leningrad Symphony ) by Dmitri Shostakovich . The work was premiered on March 5, 1942 in Kuibyshev under the direction of Samossud . This was followed by performances in Moscow (March 29, 1942), London (June 22, 1942) and New York (July 19, 1942). For propaganda reasons, the Soviet leadership had decided to have the symphony performed in Leningrad and to broadcast the concert on the radio. Shostakovich also expressed the wish for a Leningrad performance. When Eliasberg was commissioned to conduct the Leningrad premiere of the 7th Symphony, only 15 musicians from the Radio Symphony Orchestra were available. The others had either died of cold and hunger or had been drafted into the military. The ensemble was reinforced by reserve musicians and members of military bands. The concert took place on August 9, 1942 in the large concert hall of the Conservatory and was broadcast live on the radio as planned.

After the war

Eliasberg was named an Honored Artist of the USSR in 1944. However, his career was hampered by Mravinsky , who returned after the war as chief conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic . As a result, Eliasberg traveled through the province as a conductor.

Between 1945 and 1975 Eliasberg appeared three times in Leningrad in connection with the 7th Symphony, each time with the reserve orchestra. In 1961 he only conducted the first movement. In 1964 there was a meeting of veterans of the Leningrad premiere, in which Eliasberg took part. It was their first reunion in 22 years. A performance took place in front of the present Shostakovich, with the survivors sitting in their original seats. Eliasberg said the concert was dedicated to those who played then but have since passed away. Eliasberg later wrote: “Such moments don't come often. I can't explain the feeling I had. The honor of fame and the sadness of loss, and the thought that the best moments in life may be over. The city now lives in peace, but no one has the right to forget the past. ” The third performance took place on May 9, 1975.

Eliasberg died in 1978 in oblivion. His ashes were buried in the back of the Piskaryovskoye memorial cemetery in Leningrad. After the end of communism, the conductor Temirkanov ran a campaign to revive the recognition of Eliasberg, and the Leningrad mayor Sobchak had the urn with the ashes moved to a more suitable tomb in the Volkovo Cemetery .

Recordings

literature

The genesis and Leningrad performance of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony under the direction of Karl Eliasberg is the central theme of Sarah Quigley's novel Der Dirigent ("The Conductor").

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Iljitsch Eliasberg in the online encyclopedia Saint Petersburg (English, Russian )
  2. ↑ Фотографии Элиасберга ( Memento from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Photography
  3. ↑ В. Козлов. С ним хотели работать все: К 100-летию со дня рождения Карла Элиасберга . Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved on April 6, 2020. Article (Russian) in «Культура», № 23 (7584), June 14 - 20, 2007 by Viktor Kozlov "Everyone wanted to work with him". On the 100th birthday of Karl Eliasberg.
  4. ↑ В. Зак. "Тема нашествия" на Валааме Мемуарный очерк "Заметки по еврейской истории", № 7 (56), July 2005.
  5. ↑ Orchestral maneouvres (part two) by Ed Vulliamy, The Observer, November 25, 2001
  6. ↑ Пискарёвское мемориальное кладбище; Old Biographical Encyclopedia of the USSR Biography ends: "Урна с прахом в колумбарии Крематория"
  7. ↑ Contradicting source: IMDB.com "was laid to rest in Literatorskie Mos [t] ki at Volkovo Cemetery" which is confirmed by Волковское кладбище - Литераторские мостки ( Memento from July 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) where Eliasberg is listed as grave no. 100. Consequently, In your pocket St Petersburg walking tour ( March 5, 2012 memento on the Internet Archive ) and the Observer article which claims that Eliasberg's ashes were reburied in the Alexander Nevsky Convent appear to be false.
  8. ^ The Conductor
personal data
SURNAME Eliasberg, Karl Iljitsch
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Элиасберг, Карл Ильич (Russian spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION soviet conductor
DATE OF BIRTH June 10, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Minsk
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1978
Place of death Leningrad