Gustav Kross () was a Russian pianist and teacher. He is primarily remembered for being the soloist of the first, negatively-received Russian performance of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

's Piano Concerto No. 1.

Biography

Gustav Gustavovich Kross was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1831. He gave solo piano recitals from the 1850s. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the

Russian Musical Society The Russian Musical Society (RMS) () was the first music school in Russia open to the general public. It was launched in 1859 by the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna and Anton Rubinstein, one of the few notable Russian pianists and composers of th ...

1859-67. In 1862 he was among the first group of students at the fledgling

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory () (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty member ...

, where he studied under

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was the elder brother of Nikolai Rubinstein, who founded the Moscow Conservatory. As a pianist, Rubinstein ran ...

Natalya V. Lundtvedt: ''Rachmaninoff and Russian pianism: Performance issues in the Piano Concerto in C minor, Opus 18''
/ref>Ruby Cheng: ''Rachmaninoff the composer-pianist: Aspects of pianism in his Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor''
/ref> and Adolf von Henselt. In 1865 he was in the inaugural class of graduates, along with

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

and others. From 1867 Kross taught piano at the Conservatory. Among his pupils were Vladimir Demyansky and Anna Ornatskaya, who were both early teachers of

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

. He is credited with the first performance in Russia of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

's Piano Concerto No. 2 in A. There is a note of his performance of Litolff's ''Concerto Symphonique'' No. 4 in D minor, Op. 102.Odoevskiy V.F.: ''Dnevnik. Perepiska. Materialy, Memuary''
But his name is most often associated with the first Russian performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor. This occurred in Saint Petersburg on 1/13 November 1875, just under three weeks after its world premiere by

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishi ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Mass., in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(25 October). Kross played under the baton of the conductor

Eduard Nápravník Eduard Francevič Naprávnik (Russian: Эдуа́рд Фра́нцевич Напра́вник; 24 August 1839 – 10 November 1916) was a Czech conductor and composer. Nápravník settled in Russian Empire and is best known for his leading role ...

, and in the presence of the composer. His performance was by all accounts execrable. Tchaikovsky referred to it as "an atrocious cacophony", and the critics were similarly negative, but they extended their remarks to the quality of the concerto itself. One critic said the concerto (Tchaikovsky's first concertante work) was "like the first pancake ...a flop". Tchaikovsky then chose

Sergei Taneyev Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev (, ; – ) was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of musical composition, composition, music theorist and author. Life Taneyev was born in Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir, Vladimir Governorate, Russian Empire, to a cultur ...

for the

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

premiere, and was so delighted with the result that Taneyev premiered all Tchaikovsky's later works for piano and orchestra and his Piano Trio in A minor.Toccata Classics
/ref> Gustav Kross died in 1885 in the city of his birth, aged 54.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kross, Gustav 1831 births 1885 deaths Pianists from the Russian Empire Russian male classical pianists Music educators from the Russian Empire Piano educators 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century male musicians from the Russian Empire Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni