Miriam Solovieff (also: Myriam Solovieff, November 4, 1921 – October 3, 2004) was an American classical violinist,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, and music teacher.

Biography

Solovieff was born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. The daughter of an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

emigrant from Russia, she received piano lessons from the age of three. From 1928, she also received violin lessons from Robert Pollack at the

San Francisco Conservatory of Music The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California, United States. As of 2024, it had more than 440 students. History The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada ...

. After Pollack left for Japan, she was first taught by Kathleen Parlow's assistant Carol Weston and then by Kathleen Parlow herself. After appearances at the Pacific Musical Society and the Community Playhouse, among others, she made her debut in 1932 in the Young People's Symphony Concerts with the

San Francisco Symphony Orchestra The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Franci ...

under the direction of Basil Cameron. She subsequently appeared with the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

under the direction of

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 ...

. From 1933 to 1937 she studied with

Louis Persinger Louis Persinger (11 February 1887, Rochester, Illinois31 December 1966, New York, New York) was an American violinist, pianist and professor of violin. Persinger had early lessons in Colorado, appearing in public by the age of 12. His main studie ...

, the teacher of

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

and

Ruggiero Ricci Ruggiero Ricci (24 July 1918 – 5 August 2012) was an American violinist known for performances and recordings of the works of Paganini. Biography He was born in San Bruno, California, the son of Italian immigrants who first named him Woodr ...

. In 1934 she performed

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

's Violin Concerto in front of an audience of one thousand at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under

Ossip Gabrilowitsch Ossip Salomonovich Gabrilowitsch (Осип Сoломонович Габрилович, ''Osip Solomonovich Gabrilovich''; he used the German transliteration ''Gabrilowitsch'' in the West) (14 September 1936) was a Russian-American pianist, condu ...

, and in 1937 she made her debut in New York's Town Hall. In 1938, she traveled to Europe to study with

Carl Flesch Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch, 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Flesch’s compendium ''Scale System'' is a staple of violin pedagogy. Life and career Flesch was born in Moson (now part of ...

and gave concerts in Belgium, the Netherlands and England. In 1939, Solovieff was an eyewitness when her estranged father fatally shot her mother, her sister and finally himself; she herself escaped unharmed. During the Second World War, she worked as a violinist for the US Army's troop support unit and also gave concerts in the liberated concentration camps of Buchenwald and Auschwitz. In 1946, she gave a concert with the

Vienna Symphony Orchestra The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikverein and at the Theater an der Wien. History ...

under the direction of

Jonathan Sternberg Jonathan Sternberg (July 27, 1919 – May 8, 2018) was an American conductor, musical director and professor emeritus of music. He is known for his work with symphonic orchestras in the United States, China, Germany and Austria, and for introducing ...

. In the 1950s, Solovieff settled in Paris and taught violin. In the mid-1960s, she recorded all of Johannes Brahms' violin sonatas with

Julius Katchen Julius Katchen (August 15, 1926 – April 29, 1969) was an American concert pianist, possibly best known for his recordings of Johannes Brahms's solo piano works. Career Katchen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and debuted at age 10, play ...

, but the recordings were never released commercially. She lived in Paris from 1949 until her death in a hospital on October 3, 2004.

References

1921 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American violinists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists American music educators American women music educators American women violinists Jewish American classical musicians Pianists from San Francisco San Francisco Conservatory of Music alumni Violinists from San Francisco {{Authority control