Gregor Piatigorsky facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gregor Piatigorsky
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Piatigorsky in 1945
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| Born | April 17, 1903 Ekaterinoslav, Russian Empire (now, Dnipro, Ukraine)
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| Died | August 6, 1976 (aged 73) Los Angeles, California, US
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| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Cellist |
| Spouse(s) |
Jacqueline de Rothschild
(m. 1937) |
| Children | Jephta Piatigorsky (1937-2019) Joram Piatigorsky (b. 1940) |
| Relatives | Daniel B. Drachman (son-in-law) |
Gregor Piatigorsky (Russian: Григо́рий Па́влович Пятиго́рский, Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy; April 17, 1903 – August 6, 1976) was a famous cellist. He was born in the Russian Empire and later became an American citizen. Many people consider him one of the greatest cellists of all time.
Contents
Gregor Piatigorsky's Life Story
Early Years and Music Training
Gregor Piatigorsky was born in a city called Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine). His family was Jewish. When he was a child, his father taught him to play the violin and piano. But after seeing and hearing a cello, Gregor decided he wanted to play that instrument instead. He received his first cello when he was seven years old.
Piatigorsky won a scholarship to study at the Moscow Conservatory, a famous music school. He also earned money for his family by playing music in local cafés.
When Piatigorsky was 13, the Russian Revolution happened. This was a big change in Russia's government. Soon after, he started playing in a group called the Lenin Quartet. By age 15, he became the main cellist for the Bolshoi Theatre, a very important theater.
The government at the time, the Soviet authorities, would not let Piatigorsky travel outside the country to continue his studies. So, he found a way to secretly leave. He and his cello traveled into Poland on a cattle train with other artists. The cello was damaged during the escape, but Gregor was safe.
Moving to New Countries
When he was 18, Piatigorsky studied for a short time in Berlin and Leipzig, Germany. He played in a Russian café to earn money for food. Famous musicians like Emanuel Feuermann and Wilhelm Furtwängler heard him play there. Furtwängler was so impressed that he hired Piatigorsky to be the main cellist for the Berlin Philharmonic, a top orchestra.
In 1929, Piatigorsky visited the United States for the first time. He played with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. In 1937, he married Jacqueline de Rothschild in Michigan. Jacqueline was from the very wealthy Rothschild banking family of France.
They had their first child, Jephta, in France. When World War II started and the Nazis took over parts of Europe, the family moved back to the United States. They settled in New York. Their son, Joram, was born there in 1940.
Teaching and Performing in the US
From 1941 to 1949, Piatigorsky led the cello department at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He also taught at other famous places like Tanglewood and the University of Southern California (USC). He stayed connected with USC until he passed away. USC even created the Piatigorsky Chair of Violoncello in 1974 to honor him.
Piatigorsky was part of a special chamber music group. It included Arthur Rubinstein (piano), William Primrose (viola), and Jascha Heifetz (violin). This group was sometimes called the "Million Dollar Trio." They made many recordings together.
He also played chamber music privately with other great musicians like Vladimir Horowitz and Nathan Milstein. Piatigorsky performed at Carnegie Hall, a famous concert venue, with Horowitz and Milstein in the 1930s.
In 1965, he published his popular autobiography, a book about his own life, called Cellist.
Gregor Piatigorsky passed away from lung cancer in Los Angeles, California, in 1976. He is buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Piatigorsky's Cellos
Gregor Piatigorsky owned two very special cellos made by Stradivarius, a famous instrument maker. These were called the "Batta" and the "Baudiot." For a time, from 1939 to 1951, he also owned another famous cello from 1739 by Domenico Montagnana, known as the "Sleeping Beauty."
His Amazing Musical Talent
Many people believed Gregor Piatigorsky was an incredibly dramatic and expressive player. He wanted to show the deepest feelings in every piece of music he played. He was able to do this because he knew many great composers of his time.
Many composers even wrote music especially for him. These included Sergei Prokofiev (his Cello Concerto), Paul Hindemith (Cello Concerto), Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (Cello Concerto), William Walton (his Cello Concerto), Vernon Duke (Cello Concerto), and Igor Stravinsky. Piatigorsky and Stravinsky even worked together to arrange Stravinsky's "Suite Italienne" for cello and piano.
Once, during a rehearsal of Richard Strauss's Don Quixote, Piatigorsky performed with the composer conducting. After a very dramatic part, Strauss told the orchestra, "Now I've heard my Don Quixote as I imagined him." This shows how well Piatigorsky understood the music.
Piatigorsky had a magnificent sound. He used a special fast and intense vibrato (a wavering effect in the sound). He could also play very difficult bowing techniques. He often said his love for drama came from his student days. He used to play during breaks in concerts by the great Russian singer Feodor Chaliapin. Chaliapin would not just sing, but also act out his dramatic roles, sometimes almost shouting.
One day, young Piatigorsky told Chaliapin, "You talk too much and don't sing enough." Chaliapin replied, "You sing too much and don't talk enough." Piatigorsky thought about this. From then on, he tried to add the same kind of drama and expression he heard in Chaliapin's singing into his own cello playing.
Musical Compositions
Piatigorsky was also a composer, meaning he wrote his own music. His piece Variations on a Paganini Theme was written in 1946 for cello and orchestra. It was based on a famous tune called Caprice No. 24. Later, it was also arranged for cello and piano.
Each of the fifteen variations in this piece playfully represents one of Piatigorsky's musician friends. A student of his, Denis Brott, identified them as:
- Pablo Casals
- Paul Hindemith
- Raya Garbousova
- Erica Morini
- Felix Salmond
- Joseph Szigeti
- Yehudi Menuhin
- Nathan Milstein
- Fritz Kreisler
- A self-portrait of Piatigorsky himself
- Gaspar Cassadó
- Mischa Elman
- Ennio Bolognini
- Jascha Heifetz
- Vladimir Horowitz
Recordings
Here are some of Gregor Piatigorsky's recordings:
- Heifetz, Primrose & Piatigorsky (RCA Victor LP LSC-2563) RCA Victor Red Seal 1961
- Heifetz & Piatigorsky (Stereo LP LSC-3009) RCA Victor Red Seal 1968
- The Heifetz Piatigorsky Concerts (21-CD boxed set, original album collection) Sony-RCA 88725451452, 2013
Chess Hobby
Piatigorsky also really enjoyed playing chess. His wife, Jacqueline Piatigorsky, was a very strong chess player. She even played in several US women's championships and represented the United States in the women's Chess Olympiad.
In 1963, the Piatigorskys organized and paid for a big international chess tournament in Los Angeles. It was won by Paul Keres and Tigran Petrosian. A second Piatigorsky Cup tournament was held in Santa Monica in 1966, and Boris Spassky won that one.
See also
In Spanish: Gregor Piatigorsky para niños
