I. Molto moderato e cantabile
II.
Andante
rec. 1928
Leff Nicolas
Pouishnoff (
Russian: Лев Николаевич Пышнов,
Lev Nikolayevich Pyshnov) (
11 October [
O.S. 29 September] 1891 -- 28 May
1959) was a Ukrainian-born pianist and composer, who made his home in the
United Kingdom and whose career was largely in the
West, from the
1920s onwards. He was especially associated with performances of the works of
Frédéric Chopin.
Pouishnoff, born into an aristocratic Russian family in either
Kiev or
Odessa, was drawn to the piano as a young child, and, having acquired some aptitude before the age of ten, gave two public concerts. His parents, not wishing him to be exploited, discouraged this, but after his father's death (when Leff was 9), financial constraints led to his accepting concert engagements, and he rapidly gained a reputation.
Special arrangements were made for his schooling, where he had a particular interest in chemistry. At the age of 14 he joined the
State Opera Company orchestra, but a chance meeting with
Feodor Chaliapin persuaded him to pursue his piano studies.
[edit] Formal study and trainingHe studied at the
St Petersburg Conservatory under
Anna Yesipova (piano), with instruction from Rimsky-Korsakov,
Liadov and Glazunov (composition) and
Nikolai Tcherepnin (conducting). He was one of the most brilliant students of his time, and emerged in 1910 with a first class diploma, a
Gold Medal, and a cash prize equivalent to £
120 for a voyage to
Europe. In that year he competed for the
St Petersburg Rubinstein Prize against
Arthur Rubinstein,
Alexander Borovsky,
Julius Isserlis,
Edwin Fischer and
Alfred Hoehn (the winner). However, instead of embarking at once on a high profile recital career, he chose instead to make a musical tour through various
European countries, studying their music and meeting their musicians, which greatly broadened his experience.
Returning to
Russia, he made a recital tour with the distinguished
Hungarian violinist
Leopold Auer, and followed this with a solo tour giving piano recitals, which resulted in many offers of engagements in the major
European centres. His international reputation was growing when
World War I interrupted his progress. Owing to short-sightedness, he was exempt from military service but, being confined to Russia, he played in military camps and gave a series of concerts for wounded and convalescent men in hospitals.
[edit]
Career in the WestHe remained in Russia through the
Russian Revolution, suffering considerable want, and in
1919 had the opportunity to make a concert tour in
Persia (
Iran), the first eminent European pianist to do so. After his successful completion of it he returned and soon afterwards escaped across the Russian frontier and made his way to
Paris. In
1920 he moved on to
London, where he was unknown, but gave his first and highly acclaimed recital at the
Wigmore Hall on
2 February 1921, where he was greatly admired by
Ernest Newman. From this
point he made his home in
Britain.
His career now burst upon the European scene. He made numerous orchestral appearances in Britain, in London at the
Queen's Hall and
Royal Albert Hall, with the
Hallé Orchestra in
Manchester and with the
Scottish Orchestra. His many compositions for orchestra, violin and piano were still in MS in 1924, but his piano pieces were by then being published. He began to make regular visits to the principal cities of
France,
Germany,
Belgium and the
Netherlands, and was in the
United States in the seasons of 1924-5 and 1925-6, when he toured major cities. His career eventually became worldwide.
In summer 1926 he devoted a whole week of recitals to playing over seventy of the principal works of
Chopin, and repeated this in
1927 to much acclaim. In recordings he is heard around
1930 as an extremely articulate and intelligent accompanist to
Frank Titterton in
Schubert song repertoire. He was among the earliest pianists to broadcast from
Savoy Hill in 1925, and in
1938 he became the first to be broadcast on television, from
Alexandra Palace. During
World War II he gave concerts to factory workers, miners and dockers, and made extensive tours among the forces in the
Middle East.
Pouishnoff made a substantial number of recordings, especially of Chopin and
Liszt. He had a very extensive technique, and a delicacy and sensitivity of nuance without effeminacy which won extremely high praise from some critics. He ended his own life, in London. His widow
Dorothy, a former pupil, died only three weeks after he did.
(
Wikipedia)
- published: 17 Jan 2011
- views: 1903