Jacob Lateiner facts for kids
Jacob Lateiner (born March 31, 1928 – died December 12, 2010) was a talented pianist from Cuba who became an American citizen. He was known for his amazing piano playing and his love for classical music.
Early Life and Learning
Jacob Lateiner was born on March 31, 1928. His brother, Isidor Lateiner, was also a famous musician who played the violin.
Jacob studied music at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. There, he learned from great teachers like Isabelle Vengerova. He also showed a strong interest in chamber music, which is music played by a small group of musicians. He studied this with the violist William Primrose and the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky.
In 1950, Jacob also had private lessons with the famous composer Arnold Schoenberg. After that, he started collecting things related to Schoenberg's work. Many students learned from Jacob Lateiner, including Danae Kara, Michael Endres, Bruce Brubaker, Lowell Liebermann, Robert Taub, Laura Karpman, Ernest So, and Jarred Dunn.
Performing and Recording Music
As a soloist, meaning he played by himself, Jacob Lateiner performed with many of the world's best conductors. These included Leonard Bernstein, Serge Koussevitzky, Erich Leinsdorf, Zubin Mehta, Georg Solti, and George Szell.
He was a big supporter of new American music. He asked composers to write new pieces, performed them for the first time, and recorded them. For example, he premiered and recorded Elliott Carter's piano concerto. This first performance happened in Boston on January 6, 1967. Jacob played the piano, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed with him, led by Erich Leinsdorf. He also played the very first performance of the third piano sonata by Roger Sessions.
Jacob Lateiner was also a wonderful chamber musician. He played with other famous musicians like Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky. Together, they even won a Grammy Award for their recording of music by Ludwig van Beethoven. He also played with the famous Amadeus Quartet.
From 1966 until he passed away, Jacob taught at the Juilliard School in New York. He also taught piano at the Mannes College The New School for Music starting in 1994. In 1984, he was a judge at the Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition.
Jacob was very interested in how music was played in the past. In 1992, he wrote an article about how to play Mozart's music. He also collected old versions of classical music scores.
Jacob Lateiner passed away on December 12, 2010, in a New York City hospital. A special two-disc album of his live performances, called The Lost Art of Jacob Lateiner, has been released.
See also
In Spanish: Jacob Lateiner para niños
