Michail Ignátieff

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Mikhail Ignatiev (* January 23 . Jul / 5. February  1910 greg. In Saint Petersburg , † 1991 in Hamburg ) was a German musician and composer of Russian origin.

At the age of eight, shortly after the October Revolution , Michail Ignátieff came to Berlin, where relatives lived. Orphaned at an early age, he initially earned his living as an office clerk. A friend of the family, who was a member of the Stuttgart balalaika ensemble, took care of him. The autodidact was soon considered a virtuoso at the balalaika . He was engaged as concertmaster in this balalaika orchestra from 1924 to 1930 , and from 1931 also appeared as a soloist . In addition to his concert activities, his work focused on radio events. His first record was released in 1935 and a year later Ignátieff was standing in front of a television camera - a brand new medium. This cemented his reputation as the best balalaika player outside of Russia. Through him this instrument found its way into European concert halls. In 1938 he went on tour at the invitation of European radio stations . During the Second World War Ignátieff played several times on the German broadcaster and was hired to look after the hospital and to go on concert tours for the benefit of the Red Cross . After the war he moved to Munich. The US Army hired him for concerts for the American Red Cross and for major events. Immediately he was able to gain a foothold on the radio again and regularly went on bathing tours. However, it was always important to him not to get into show business . Well-known composers of serious music dedicated balalaika concerts to him.

His compositional activity focused on chamber music for balalaika and piano, but he also composed concert versions of Slavic folk tunes and dances.

Ignátieff wrote the school of artistic balalaika (Verlag Wilhelm Zimmermann, Frankfurt).

literature

  • Brockhaus-Riemann Musiklexikon, Volume 2, p. 228.
  • Michael Goldstein: Michail Ignatieff and the balalaika - the balalaika as a solo concert instrument ; Frankfurt am Main: Wilhelm Zimmermann, 1978.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ignátieff, Michail
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ignatieff, Michail; Ignàtjeff, Mischa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian-German composer and balalaika player
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Petersburg
DATE OF DEATH 1991
Place of death Hamburg