JOSEF LHEVINNE (DEC. 13, 1874, ORYOL,
RUSSIA — DEC. 2, 1944, NEW YORK, N.Y., U.S.)
Joseph
Arkadievich Levin (the name was altered in western Europe by a manager who
thought “Lhevinne” more distinctive and less Jewish) was born into a Jewish
family of musicians in Oryol south of Moscow. He studied at the Imperial
Conservatory in Moscow under Vasily Safonov. He made his public debut at the
age of 14 with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto in a performance
conducted by his musical hero Anton Rubinstein. He graduated at the top of a
class that included both Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin, winning
the gold medal for piano in 1892. In 1895 Levin won the Second International
Anton Rubinstein Competition held in Berlin, emerging as the favoured pianist
in a group of thirty-three candidates with his performance of Rubinstein’s
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major. In 1898 Levin married Rosina Bessie, a
fellow Moscow Conservatory student, a pianist and winner of the gold medal for
piano in her year. The two began to give concerts together, a practice that
lasted until his death. Faced with anti-semitism and the political turbulence
of the Russian Revolution, they moved to Berlin in 1907. There Lhevinne gained
a reputation as one of the leading virtuosi and teachers of his day. They were
declared enemy aliens at the outbreak of World War I and became trapped there.
They had lost what money they had saved in Russian banks in the 1917 Revolution
and were unable to perform in concerts due to the war. They endured years of
hardship, surviving on the poor income from a handful of students. After the
war they were at last free to leave Germany, and in 1919 emigrated to New York
City in the United States. Lhevinne continued his concert career and also
taught piano at the Juilliard School. Regarded as one of the supreme
technicians of his day by virtually all of his more famous contemporaries (even
Vladimir Horowitz admired his pianistic command), he never achieved their level
of success with the public. He may have made his excellence look and sound too
easy, but he also enjoyed teaching more than performing. He settled into a life
of concert tours and teaching. Lhevinne spent time each summer starting in
1922, at Bonnie Oaks, relaxing from public life and sometimes teaching young
musicians. Lhevinne wrote a short book in 1924 that is considered a classic:
Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing. Asked how to say his name, he told The
Literary Digest it was lay-VEEN. He died suddenly from a heart attack in 1944 a
few days short of his 70th birthday.
TRACKLIST
6252 AMPICO
LISZT – Die Lorelei (The Loreley)
6324
AMPICO TAUSIG – Hungarian Gypsy Dances (Ungarische Zigeunerweisen)
6351
AMPICO MENDELSSOHN-LISZT-On the Wings of Song (Auf Flügeln des Gesänges)
6390
AMPICO LISZT-BUSONI – “Paganini” Etude, No. 3, g# La Campanella
6427
AMPICO CUI – Causerie (Conversation) Op. 40, No. 6, F
6521
AMPICO SCHUBERT-LISZT – Soirées de Viennes (Viennese Evenings) No. 6
6661
AMPICO BEETHOVEN – Piano Sonata, Op. 27, No. 2, c# “Moonlight” lst
Mvt.
6671
AMPICO ALBENIZ – “Chants d’Espagñe” (Songs of Spain), Op. 232, Op. 4
Cordoba
6756
AMPICO J. STRAUSS, JR.-SCHULZ-EVLER – “Blue Danube” Arabesques
6847
AMPICO ALBENIZ – Suite Espagñole (Spanish Suite), Op. 47. No. 3 Sevillanas
6865
AMPICO LISZT – Liebestraum (Nocturne) No. 3, Ab O Lieb! (Oh, Love!)
6969
AMPICO LISZT – Gondoliera (Années de p¡elerinage – Venezia è Napoli, #1)
7044 AMPICO SINDING
– Frühlingsrauschen (Rustle of Spring) Op. 32, No. 3
7096 AMPICO SCHUBERT-TAUSIG
– Marche militaire, Op. 51, No. l, D
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