Valerian Bierdiajew

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Valerian Bierdiajew (born March 7, 1885 in Grodno , † November 28, 1956 in Warsaw ) was a Polish composer, conductor and music teacher.

Bierdiajew had violin lessons in Kiev and then studied music theory with Stephan Krehl , composition with Max Reger , violin with Hans Sitt and conducting with Arthur Nikisch at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipzig . In 1906 he made his debut as a conductor with performances of Tchaikovsky's opera Eugen Onegin in Dresden and Leipzig.

From 1906 to 1921 Bierdiajew was the conductor at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg, where singers such as Mattia Battistini , Adam Didur , Ignacy Dygas , Iwan Kozlovski , Marija Maksakowa , Antonina Neschdanowa , Dmitri Smirnow and Fyodor Chalyapin performed. He also conducted symphony orchestras in Moscow, Kiev, Charkow and Odessa and performed works with the pianists Robert Casadesus , Vladimir Horowitz , Heinrich Neuhaus and Nikolai Orlow , the violinists Henri Marteau and József Szigeti and the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky . From 1921 he was guest conductor of various orchestras in Poland, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. In 1925 he went to the Soviet Union, where he led the Leningrad Philharmonic and the orchestras of the theaters in Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa and Sverdlovsk. He also taught conducting at the Music and Theater Institute in Kiev, where Leonid Kaufman , Alexander Klimow and Natan Rachlin were among his students.

In 1930 Bierdiajew returned to Poland and became a conductor at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. At the same time he led an opera class and was professor of conducting at the Warsaw Conservatory. Here studied among others Tadeusz Czudowski , Artur Gelbrun , Zofia Godlewska , Lucjan Gutrry , Kazimierz Hardulak , Stanisław Janiszewski , Tomasz Kiesewetter , Felicjan Lasota , Bolesław Lewandowski , Czeslaw Lewicki , Artur Malawski , Andrzej Panufnik , Konstanty Rogalski , Zygmunt Szczepański , Tadeusz Wilczak , Bohdan Wodiczko and Olgierd Zapiórkiewicz among his students. During the Second World War he was music director of theaters in Warsaw and taught in an underground conservatory where Edward Bury , Jan Krenz and Marian Lewandowski studied with him.

After 1945 Bierdiajew taught briefly at the State Music Academy in Warsaw and then went to Krakow as a conductor. In 1947 he became director of the Krakow Philharmonic. In addition, he taught again at the State Music Academy, where Stanisław Has , Adam Kopyciński , Aleksander Marczewski and Stanisław Skrowaczewski were among his students. In 1949 he went to Poznan as director of the opera house and worked as a professor at the local music college. Here, among others, Henryk Czyż , Stefan Stuligrosz and Roman Jankowiak studied with him.

From 1954 Bierdiajew was director of the Wielki Teatr in Warsaw and led a conducting class at the State Academy of Music. In addition to the works of Russian opera composers, Richard Wagner's operas were at the center of his repertoire as a conductor . In symphony concerts, he preferred to perform works by Beethoven , Brahms and Tchaikovsky. The first complete recordings of the operas Halka and Straszny Dwór by Stanisław Moniuszko were made under his direction . Bierdiajew was awarded the state prize twice (1953 and 1955).

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personal data
SURNAME Bierdiajew, Valerian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish composer, conductor and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH March 7, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Grodno
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 1956
Place of death Warsaw