Evi Liivak (7 May 1924 – 1 November 1996) was an American violinist of Estonian origin.
Life
Born in
Viljandi, Liivak was born the daughter of the music-loving lawyer Henn Liivak and his wife Johanna. She took violin lessons at an early age and studied at the
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. At the age of eleven, she played with Mendelssohn's
Violin Concerto with the
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. The following year, she performed Tchaikovsky's
Violin Concerto with the
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra ( et, Eesti Riiklik Sümfooniaorkester ''(ERSO)'') is the leading orchestra in Estonia and is based in the capital Tallinn. The orchestra traces it roots to 18 December 1926, the first concert broadcast by ...
in Tallinn. In 1937, she was a member of the Estonian delegation to the
Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.
After graduating in 1939, the Estonian dictator
Konstantin Päts gave her a
Maggini violin and a state scholarship to study violin with
Ede Zathureczky at the
Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. In the meantime, her home country was first annexed by the Soviet Union and then occupied again after the German
Operation Barbarossa in 1941. Her father was killed by the Gestapo and she returned to Estonia in her second year of studies. In Berlin, where she actually wanted to obtain papers to continue her studies in Hungary, she got stuck and enrolled at the
Universität der Künste Berlin. She attended
Max Strub
Karl Johannes Max Strub (28 September 1900 – 23 March 1966) was a German violin virtuoso and eminent violin pedagogue. He gained a Europe-wide reputation during his 36 years of activity as primarius of the Strub Quartet. Stations as concertmas ...
's violin class for several months.
After the
bombing of Berlin in World War II in 1944, she moved to
Marienwerder near Berlin and to
Bad Landeck
Bad or BAD may refer to:
Common meanings
*Evil, the opposite of moral good
*Error, Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect
*Unhealthy, or counter to well-being
*Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good
Acronyms
* BAD-2, a Soviet armored tr ...
in Lower Silesia, where Max Strub was able to continue teaching her. She fled from the approaching
Red Army to the Franconian town of
Fürth. Over the next three years, she performed as a soloist with the
Munich Philharmonic, the
Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester and the
hr-Sinfonieorchester as well as with the symphony orchestras of various larger cities. She played under the direction of conductors
Rolf Agop
Rolf Agop (11 June 1908 – 15 October 1998) was a German conductor and academic teacher of Armenian descent.
Career
Born in Munich where he studied, Agop worked first for the Bayerische Landesbühne, a touring theatre, and then for three year ...
and
Hans Rosbaud.
From 1948, she studied with
Jules Boucherit in Paris and performed in Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, France and elsewhere. In 1952, she moved to New York City with her husband, the American concert pianist Richard Anschuetz, who worked as a translator at the
Nuremberg trials in the post-war period. Together with the pianist
Artur Balsam Artur Balsam (February 8, 1906 – September 1, 1994) was a Polish-born American classical pianist and pedagogue.
Biography
He was born in Warsaw, Poland, and studied in Łódź, making his debut there at the age of 12 then enrolled at the Berlin ...
, she gave her first major concert in 1954 in
the Town Hall in Manhattan. She played
Jean Rivier's violin concerto, among others. In the US, a
Guadagnini violin became her new instrument. From 1962 until her death in 1996 she played on a
Stradivari violin from 1715 (the
Lipinski Stradivarius).
Concerts abroad followed in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy. For Estonian exiles she performed in Canada. She included composers from her home country in her repertoire such as
Eduard Tubin
Eduard Tubin ( – 17 November 1982) was an Estonian composer, conductor, and choreographer.
Life
Tubin was born in Torila, Tartu County, Governorate of Livonia, then part of the Russian Empire. Both his parents were music lovers, and his fat ...
,
Artur Lemba and
Heino Eller. She also worked with the conductor and pianist
Olav Roots
Olav Roots (26 February 1910 – 30 January 1974) was an Estonian conductor, pianist and composer.
Roots was born in Uderna. He studied at the Music School of Tartu from 1923 to 1928, studying piano with Artur Lemba and composition under H ...
, who was music director of the
Columbia Symphony Orchestra for a long time.
After her death in 1996, Liivak was buried in New York City at the age of 72 at Concordia Cemetery in
St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1998, the documentary ''Armastuse Poeem'' by Airi Kasera was released in her honour.
Evi Liivak - Armastuse poeem
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Further reading
* Ülo Kaevats: ''Eesti entsüklopeedia'' nzyklopädie Estlands Vol. 6: ''Lõuna-nõud''. Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus, Tallinn 1992, , .
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liivak, Evi
1924 births
1996 deaths
Estonian classical violinists
American classical violinists
Women classical violinists
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni
Estonian World War II refugees
Estonian emigrants to the United States
People from Viljandi