Yakov Vladimirovich Flier (, 1912December 18, 1977) was a Soviet concert

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 teacher. Flier was born in

Orekhovo-Zuyevo Orekhovo-Zuyevo (, ) is an industrial city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located east of Moscow in a forested area on the Klyazma River (a tributary of the Oka). Orekhovo (), often pronounced only as ''Orekh'', is a Russian word which means "nut ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Growing up, he first began teaching himself piano but soon began formal study with the pianist Sergei Nikanorovich Korsakov. Because of his expedited development, at the age of 11, he entered the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory, studying with Grigory Prokofiev, pianist and music psychologist, and then later with Sergey Kozlovsky. In 1928, he advanced and entered into study at the larger conservatory, studying under

Konstantin Igumnov Konstantin Nikolayevich Igumnov (March 24, 1948) was a Soviet and Russian pianist and pedagogue. In 1946, he was recognized as the People's Artist of the USSR. Biography Igumnov studied under Nikolai Zverev, and at Moscow Conservatory under A ...

. His graduating performance in 1934 was extremely well attended, and soon after his career leading him to enroll in high-profile competitions. In 1935 Flier won the All-Union Piano Competition in

Leningrad 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 ...

and became known throughout the country. In 1936 he took part in the Vienna International Piano Competition, where he won first place ahead of

Emil Gilels Emil Grigoryevich Gilels (19 October 191614 October 1985, born Samuil) was a Soviet pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. His sister Elizabeth, three years his junior, was a violinist. His daughter Elena ...

, and in 1938 he took third place at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. By the 1930s, he had become one of the most prominent Russian concert pianists. He mainly performed Romantic music, although he also played some works by contemporary Russian composers

Dmitry Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky ( ; – 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent. He helped set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures during ...

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

, German Galynin,

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

and

Rodion Shchedrin Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin ( rus, Родион Константинович Щедрин, , rədʲɪˈon kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ɕːɪˈdrʲin; born 16 December 1932) is a Soviet and Russian composer and pianist, winner of USSR St ...

. He taught piano for many years at the Moscow Conservatory from 1937, although beginning in 1965, Flier was appointed head of one of the conservatory's several piano departments. He would continue his teaching duties until 1959. However, as a performer he stopped public concert in 1949 due to personal illness. He was a contemporary of and sometime rival to

. In the 1960s and 1970s, Flier began to perform in Europe. During his concert tour in the USA he performed

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 ...

's Third Piano Concerto with the New York Philharmonic conducted by

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 ...

. He died in 1977 in

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 ...

, aged 65.

Students

Viktoria Postnikova Viktoria Valentinovna Postnikova (; born 12 January 1944) is a Russian pianist. Biography Postnikova was born in Moscow into a family of musicians. She entered the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory at age six, studying with E.B. Mus ...

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 ...

Lev Vlassenko Lev Nikolaevich Vlassenko (Russian: Лев Никола́евич Вла́сенко; 24 December 1928 – 24 August 1996), was a Soviet pianist and teacher. Biography Lev Vlassenko was born on 24 December 1928 in Tiflis, Georgian SSR, Soviet Uni ...

* Natasha Vlassenko * Tatiana Ryumina * Mikhaïl Faerman *

Bella Davidovich Bella Mikhaylovna Davidovich (Бэлла Миха́йловна Давидо́вич; born July 16, 1928) is a Soviet and American pianist. Biography Davidovich was born in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, into a Jewish family of musicians and began study ...

* Sergey Musaelyan * Regina Shamvili * Shoshana Rudiakov *

Mikhail Rudy Mikhail Rudy (: born 3 April 1953) is a French pianist, who has won several awards for his recordings including the Grand Prix du disque. Life and career Rudy was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan where his family had been deported by the Soviet reg ...

Mark Zeltser Mark Efimovich Zeltser (born 8 April 1947) is a Soviet Union, Soviet-born United States, American pianist. Biography Zeltser was born in Chişinău, Kishinev in 1947. His mother Bertha was a concert pianist and teacher.Nancy Beth JacksonWhen the K ...

Vladimir Feltsman Vladimir Oskarovich Feltsman (, ''Vladimir Oskarovič Feltsman'' (born 8 January 1952) is a Russian-American classical pianist descent particularly noted for his devotion to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Frédéric Chopin. Backgr ...

Samvel Alumyan Samvel Alumyan (; 1941 – 1987) was a Soviet-Armenian classical pianist, winner of the George Enescu International Piano Competition in 1967 (a prize shared ex-aequo with Radu Lupu). He was a student of Yakov Flier at the Moscow Conservatory (gra ...

Mūza Rubackytė Mūza Rubackytė (born May 19, 1959) is a Lithuanian pianist, currently residing in Vilnius, Paris and Geneva. Rubackytė has been awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, Lithuanian Muzes, and has been named as the National Arti ...

* Ilze Graubina * Arnis Zandmanis

Awards

* 1935: First Place in The 2nd All-Union Competition of Performing Musicians (Leningrad) * 1936: First Place in The Vienna International Competition * 1938: Third Place in The Eugene Ysaÿe Brussels International Competition * 1946:

Order of the Red Banner of Labor The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

* 1947:

Honored Artist of the RSFSR Honored Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Zasluzhenny artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achievements in the ...

* 1966:

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 ...

Notes

References

External links

Audio links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flier, Yakov 1912 births 1977 deaths People from Orekhovo-Zuyevo Russian Jews Jewish classical pianists Russian classical pianists Russian male classical pianists Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition People's Artists of the USSR Soviet classical pianists 20th-century Russian male musicians Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery Moscow Conservatory alumni