Alexis Sigismund Weissenberg ( bg, Алексис Сигизмунд Вайсенберг; 26 July 1929 – 8 January 2012) was a Bulgarian-born French pianist.

Early life and career

Born into a Jewish family in Sofia, Weissenberg began taking piano lessons at the age of three from Pancho Vladigerov, a Bulgarian composer. He gave his first public performance at the age of eight. In 1941, he and his mother tried to escape from German-occupied Bulgaria for Turkey, but were caught and imprisoned in a makeshift concentration camp in Bulgaria for three months. A German guard – who had enjoyed hearing Alexis play Schubert on the accordion – hurriedly took him and his mother to the train station, throwing the accordion to him through the window and told them, "Good luck". They safely arrived in Istanbul a day later. In 1945, they emigrated to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, where Weissenberg studied under Leo Kestenberg and performed Beethoven with the Israel Philharmonic under the direction of

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

. In 1946, Weissenberg went to the Juilliard School to study with

Olga Samaroff Olga Samaroff (August 8, 1880May 17, 1948) was an American pianist, music critic, and teacher. Among her teachers was Charles-Valentin Alkan's son, Élie-Miriam Delaborde. Her second husband was the conductor Leopold Stokowski. Samaroff was ...

. He also studied with Artur Schnabel and Wanda Landowska. In 1947, Weissenberg made his New York City debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and George Szell in Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 and with

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscripti ...

and

Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with ...

, with which Weissenberg won the

Leventritt Competition The Leventritt Competition was a highly prestigious international competition for classical pianists and violinists. It was founded in 1939 by the Edgar M. Leventritt Foundation Inc. of Cold Spring, New York, in memory of jurist Edgar M. Leventri ...

. Between 1957 and 1965, he took an extended sabbatical for the purpose of studying and teaching. Weissenberg resumed his career in 1966 with a recital in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. Later that year he played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Berlin conducted by Herbert von Karajan, who praised him as "one of the best pianists of our time". Weissenberg gave piano master classes all over the world. He had many notable students at his Piano Master Class in Engelberg ( Switzerland), including

Kirill Gerstein Kirill Gerstein (russian: Кирилл Герштейн) (born 23 October 1979) is a Russian-American concert pianist. He is the sixth recipient of the Gilmore Artist Award. Born in the former Soviet Union, Gerstein is an American citizen based in ...

, Simon Mulligan, Ivan Moravec, Mehmet Okonsa

Nazzareno Carusi, Andrey Ponochevny, Loris Karpell, and Roberto Carnevale among them. He composed piano music and a musical, ''Nostalgie'', which was premiered at the State Theatre of Darmstadt on 17 October 1992. Weissenberg died on 8 January 2012 at the age of 82 in Lugano, Switzerland after suffering from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. He was survived by three children, David, Cristina and Maria.

Recorded works

He recorded extensively, including works of Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Chopin. Among his other notable interpretations were those of Johannes Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1, with

Carlo Maria Giulini Carlo Maria Giulini (; 9 May 1914 – 14 June 2005) was an Italian conductor. From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conserva ...

and Riccardo Muti, ("Les Introuvables d'Alexis Weissenberg", 2004), Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, as well as his Piano Concerto No. 3 with Georges Prêtre and the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...

, and Seiji Ozawa with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1 ...

(also with Leonard Bernstein and the Orchestre National de France). His 1965 film recording of Stravinsky's '' Three Movements from Petrushka'' (directed by Åke Falck) was also highly praised. When Karajan watched the movie, he immediately invited Weissenberg to participate in a filmed performance of the Tchaikovsky First Concerto, replacing Sviatoslav Richter.

Selected discography

Audio

* Bach: Goldberg Variations * Bach: Jesu bleibet meine Freude (Choral – aus: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben BWV 147), Orfeo (CD) * Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2 with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra RCA * Beethoven: The Five Piano Concertos with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra EMI (3 CDs) * Beethoven: Piano Sonatas: "Pathétique, Moonlight and Appassionata" * Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 (two recordings, with Carlo Maria Giulini and Riccardo Muti, EMI * Brahms: Rhapsodie g-Moll op. 79 Nr. 2, Orfeo (CD) * Brahms: Étude F-Dur, Orfeo (CD) * Brahms: Sonatas for violin & piano Nos. 1–3, with Anne-Sophie Mutter. EMI (CD) * Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 3, Ballade No. 4, Nocturnes. SWR Music (CD) * Chopin: Works for piano and orchestra. EMI (2 CDs) * Chopin: The Nocturnes. EMI * Chopin: Piano Sonata Nos. 2 and 3 EMI * Debussy: Estampes, Suite Bergamasque, Children's Corner, L'Isle Joyeuse, etc. on Deutsche Grammophon * Debussy: Piano works. Deutsche Grammophon (CD) * Franck: Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra (with Herbert von Karajan and The Berlin Philharmonic) * Haydn: Sonatas Hob.XVI/20,37 & 52, RCA (LP) * Liszt: Piano sonata in B minor. Einsatz Records, Japan * Liszt: Valse impromptu A-Dur, Orfeo (CD) * Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 9 and 21 with Giulini and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra * Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Orfeo (CD) * Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, EMI * Prokofiev: Piano concerto No.3 – Seiji Ozawa, Orchestre de Paris * Rachmaninoff: Complete Preludes. RCA (CD) * Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1, 2. Deutsche Grammophon (CD) * Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, 1972) * Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 (three different recordings, with Georges Pretre, Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein) * Ravel: Piano concerto – Seiji Ozawa, Orchestre de Paris * Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin, Orfeo (CD) * Scarlatti: Sonatas (A selection of 15) on Deutsche Grammophon * Schumann: Fantasie, op. 17. Orfeo (CD) * Schumann: "Carnaval" op.9, "Kinderszenen", Op. 15 (Toshiba-EMI)

Video

* Alexis Weissenberg DVD: Classic Archive 2008 – Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Prokofiev, Stravinsky. *

Books

* Gustl Breuer/Henno Lohmeyer (Hrsg.): »Alexis Weissenberg. Ein kaleidoskopisches Porträt«. Rembrandt Verlag, Berlin 1977. * Lettre d'Alexis Weissenberg à Bernard Gavoty, 1966 * Weissenberg – Drei Interviews – 2012, Sofia

References

External links

Official Archive for Alexis Weissenberg

Official website for Alexis Weissenberg
(To be superseded by the archive at http://alexisweissenbergarchive.com/)
Arkiv Music page on Alexis Weissenberg

David Dubal interview with Alexis Weissenberg (1 of 3)
WNCN-FM, 10 April 1981
David Dubal interview with Alexis Weissenberg (2 of 3)
WNCN-FM, 17 April 1981
David Dubal interview with Alexis Weissenberg (3 of 3)
WNCN-FM, 24 April 1981 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weissenberg, Alexis Jewish classical pianists Bulgarian classical pianists 20th-century French male classical pianists Leventritt Award winners Juilliard School alumni Jews who emigrated to escape Nazism Bulgarian refugees Bulgarian emigrants to Israel Bulgarian expatriates in France Bulgarian people of Jewish descent Deutsche Grammophon artists Erato Records artists Musicians from Sofia 1929 births 2012 deaths Piano pedagogues French music educators Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres