Eliso Virsaladze ( ka, ელისო ვირსალაძე; born September 14, 1942) is a Georgian pianist.

Biography

She was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

. Her father Constantine Virsaladze was a prominent doctor and scientist, so was her grandfather Spiridon Virsaladze. She received her first piano lessons at the age of 9 from her grandmother,

Anastasia Virsaladze Anastasia Virsaladze née Abdushelishvili, Georgian: ანასტასია ვირსალაძე, (November 11, 1883 – September 5, 1968) was a Georgian concert pianist and music teacher. In 1921, she began to teach at the Tbilisi Con ...

, a well-known pianist and professor in Georgia. From the age of 9, she also started receiving lessons from

Heinrich Neuhaus Heinrich Gustav Neuhaus (, , Genrikh Gustavovič Nejgauz, 10 October 1964) was a Russian pianist and teacher. Part of a musical dynasty, he grew up in a Polish-speaking household. He taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1922 to 1964. Neuhaus ...

up until his last days. She graduated from the

Tbilisi State Conservatory Tbilisi State Conservatoire ( ka, თბილისის სახელმწიფო კონსერვატორია, ''Tbilisis Saxelmc̣ipo Ḳonservaṭoria'') is the State Conservatoire of Georgia (country), Georgia, located in t ...

(Class of

), and continued her education as a

postgraduate student Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

with

Yakov Zak Yakov Izrailevich Zak ( (), ''Jiakov Israilevič Sak''; Odessa, – Moscow, 28 June 1976) was a Soviet and Russian pianist and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1966). Born in Odessa, Zak studied piano at the Odessa Conservatory with Mari ...

. She has also played for A. Goldenweiser and N. Perelman many times. She won the 3rd prize in the

International Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

in Moscow in 1962 and the 1st prize in the Robert Schumann International Competition in

Zwickau Zwickau (; ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...

, Germany in 1966.

Sviatoslav Richter Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time,Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his interpreta ...

considered her the best female pianist of her time, and the best interpreter of

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

. Considered a great pianist, Virsaladze has been teaching at

since 1967 (becoming a professor in 1993), University of Music and Performing Arts of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany (1995-2011). From 2010 she has been teaching at Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy. She is also a distinguished visiting professor at the

Tokyo College of Music is a private music school and university in Tokyo, Japan. Offering a range of undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral degree programs, the college was originally named as the in Kanda, Tokyo, in 1907. History The college moved to Toshima, T ...

. In addition, regularly gives masterclasses all over the world. Among her most outstanding students are: B. Berezovsky, A. Volodin, A. Zuev, J.H.Park, T. Yang, D. Shishkin. Since 1975, she has served on the jury of many well-known international competitions, including:

Queen Elisabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

, Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition, R. Schumann International Competition, Géza Anda International Piano Competition,

, Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition, Tbilisi International Piano Competition and many others. Eliso Virsaladze speaks 8 languages: Georgian, English, German, French, Italian,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, Russian and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Orchestras and chamber music

Since 1966, Eliso Virsaladze has given recitals and appeared with major international orchestras under

Yevgeny Svetlanov Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov (; 6 September 1928 – 3 May 2002) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, composer, and pianist. Life and work Svetlanov was born in Moscow and studied conducting with Alexander Gauk at the Moscow Conservatory Th ...

, Kyrill Kondrashin,

Yuri Temirkanov Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov (; ; 10 December 1938 – 2 November 2023) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, named a People's Artist of the USSR. Early life Born in 1938 in the North Caucasus city of Nalchik, Temirkanov attended the Saint Petersburg ...

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

Kurt Sanderling Kurt Sanderling, CBE (; 19 September 1912 – 18 September 2011) was a German conductor. Early life and career Sanderling was born in Arys, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (now Orzysz, Poland) to Jewish parents. His early work at the Deuts ...

Mariss Jansons Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian Conducting, conductor, best known for his interpretations of Gustav Mahler, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Strauss, and Russian composers such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, ...

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop (; born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor. She is the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate of the Baltimor ...

Charles Dutoit Charles Édouard Dutoit is a Swiss conductor. He is the principal guest conductor for the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia. In 2017, he became the 103rd recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal Award. Dutoit held previous positions ...

Mikhail Pletnev Mikhail Vasilievich Pletnev (, ''Mikha'il Vas'ilevič Plet'nëv''; born 14 April 1957) is a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. Life and career Pletnev was born into a musical family in Arkhangelsk, then part of the Soviet Union. His fath ...

Vakhtang Vakhtang ( ka, ვახტანგ) is a masculine Georgian given name of Persian language, Persian origin. Originally from "vahrka-tanū," meaning "wolf-bodied." Some sources argue that the meaning of the name could possibly be a representation ...

and

Jansug Kakhidze Jansug Ivanes dze Kakhidze (26 May 19357 March 2002) was a Georgian musician, composer, singer and conductor nicknamed "the Georgian Karajan". Kakhidze was music director of the Georgian State Symphony Orchestra for two decades beginning in 1 ...

and many others. Virsaladze enjoys playing

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, partnering with

Natalia Gutman Natalia Grigoryevna Gutman (; born 14 November 1942), PAU, is a Russian cellist. She began to study cello at the Moscow Music School with R. Sapozhnikov. She was later admitted to the Moscow Conservatory. She later studied with Mstislav Rostrop ...

, Oleg Kagan, the

Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 183327 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as " The Five", a group dedicated to prod ...

and the Taneyev Quartets. She is an interpreter of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, Bach,

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, Chopin and so many others.

Live Classics ''Live Classics'' is a live album by Australian band Little River Band. It was recorded during their 1992 world tour. The album included two new studio songs, "Walk Together" and "My Own Way Home". It was the last Little River Band album (other ...

has recorded most of her broad repertoire. She was awarded the title of

People's Artist of the Georgian SSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти� ...

in 1971, and of

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...

in 1989.

References

External links

Richter Competition

Eliso Virsaladze Interview
by Willem Boone {{DEFAULTSORT:Virsaladze, Eliso Konstantines asuli 1942 births Living people People's Artists of the USSR Classical pianists from Georgia (country) Women pianists from Georgia (country) Women classical pianists Musicians from Tbilisi Moscow Conservatory alumni Academic staff of Moscow Conservatory Piano educators Tbilisi State Conservatoire alumni

Biography

Orchestras and chamber music

See also

References

External links