Eugene George Istomin (November 26, 1925October 10, 2003) was an American pianist. He was a winner of the Leventritt Award and recorded extensively as a soloist and in a

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in European classical music, classical chamber music. The term can also ...

in which he collaborated with

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

and

Leonard Rose Leonard Joseph Rose (July 27, 1918 – November 16, 1984) was an American cellist and pedagogue. Biography Rose was born in Washington, D.C. His parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Bragin, Belarus, and his mother from Kyiv, ...

Career

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

and

Ukrainian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the modern territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Important Jewish religious and cultural move ...

parents, Istomin was a child prodigy who in his early years studied at the Mannes School of Music. His earliest public performances began at age six with his mother, and at 13 he entered the Curtis Institute, having had earlier advice from Alexander Siloti and his daughter Kyriena. He went on to study under

Rudolf Serkin Rudolf Serkin (28 March 1903 – 8 May 1991) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Early life, childhood debut, and education Serkin was born in ...

and Mieczysław Horszowski. He also studied with Sascha Gorodnitzki. In 1943, at the age of 17, he won the Leventritt award and the Philadelphia Youth Award. He made his debut with the

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

with

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 ...

, playing a concerto by Chopin, and the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

conducted by

Artur Rodziński Artur Rodziński (2 January 1892 – 27 November 1958) was a Polish and American conductor of orchestral music and opera. He began his career after World War I in Poland, where he was discovered by Leopold Stokowski, who invited him to be his ass ...

playing Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in the same week in 1943. He performed with the conductor Rodzinski and the New York Philharmonic a second time in December 1944, playing

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 ...

's Fourth Piano Concerto. His first recording, which brought him considerable acclaim, was of Bach's D minor Concerto with the Busch Chamber Players. Starting in 1950, Istomin became a regular participant at the Prades Festival organized by the famous cellist

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher, and writer on music. He had started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved towards complex harmonies and postromanticism, a ...

's piano concerto in 1956. Several other composers, including

Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer of late 20th-century classical music. Among the leading French composers of his time, his work was rooted in the Impressionistic style of Debussy and R ...

and

Ned Rorem Ned Miller Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing i ...

, wrote music for him. The Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio he formed with

and

made many recordings, particularly of music by Beethoven, Brahms and

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

. He won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in 1970 with the Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio for their recordings of Beethoven. He also was known as a soloist, performing many concerts of orchestral music, with conductors such as Eugene Ormandy,

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a Germany, German-born Conducting, conductor, pianist, and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French people, French cit ...

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis 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 th ...

Fritz Reiner Frederick Martin Reiner (; December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was an American conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose to promine ...

George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor, composer and pianist. Considered one of the twentieth century's greatest conductors ...

and

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

. He recorded extensively for Columbia (later Sony Classical), solo works and chamber music. As late as 2001, he made the world premiere recording of

Paul Paray Paul Marie-Adolphe Charles Paray (French: ɔl paʁɛ 24 May 1886 – 10 October 1979) was a French conductor, organist and composer. After winning France's top musical award, the Prix de Rome, he fought in the First World War and was a prisone ...

's ''Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra'', with the

Budapest Symphony Orchestra The Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (also known earlier as Budapest Symphony Orchestra) (; MRZE) is a Hungary, Hungarian radio orchestra. It is part of the Hungarian Television and Broadcasting Organisation, Magyar Rádió. History The Hungaria ...

under Jean-Bernard Pommier. He married Marta Montañez Martínez (Marta Casals Istomin), the widow of Pablo Casals, on February 15, 1975. She is a former president of the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

and former artistic director of the

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He moved to Washington in 1980. He was an avid reader and book collector and, eventually, attracted the interest of New York publishing magnate,

William Jovanovich William Jovanovich (1920 – 4 December 2001) was an American publisher, author, and businessman of Montenegrin descent. He served as the director of the publishing firm Harcourt, Brace & World from 1954 to 1991, renamed Harcourt, Brace, Jo ...

. In 1980, Istomin was hired by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers to advise the company in the publication of facsimile editions of original editions by

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Eng ...

and

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

, among others. In the 1980s and 1990s, he toured 30 American cities—largely in the Midwest—in a twelve-ton truck with his own Steinway pianos and piano tuner. It was the expression of a lifelong conviction that classical music belonged to the ordinary American. In this same vein, he was an ardent fan of the Detroit Tigers baseball team. Better known in Europe than in the United States, Eugene Istomin received the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 2001. He died of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

in 2003 at his home in Washington.

Awards and recognitions

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance: *Eugene Istomin, Leonard Rose & Isaac Stern for ''Beethoven: The Complete Piano Trios'' (

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

)

References

External links

Eugene Istomin Memorial Website

Free recordings by Eugene Istomin
on International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
Washington Post's obituary

David Dubal interview with Eugene Istomin
WNCN-FM, 7-Oct-1983 {{DEFAULTSORT:Istomin, Eugene 1925 births 2003 deaths American male classical pianists American male pianists Grammy Award winners American recipients of the Legion of Honour Leventritt Award winners Curtis Institute of Music alumni American people of Russian descent Russian Christians Musicians from New York City Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Deaths from liver cancer in the United States Pupils of Egon Petri 20th-century American classical pianists Jewish classical pianists Classical musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians