Benno Moiseiwitsch

Moiseiwitsch was born to Jewish parents in Odessa, in those times Russian Empire (today part of Ukraine), and began his studies at age seven with Dmitry Klimov at the Odessa Music Academy. He won the Anton Rubinstein Prize when he was just nine years old. He studied with Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna from 1904 to 1908, then joined his own family in England, making his English debut at Reading in 1908, his London debut the following year.[1] While in Dublin during the war he met another Leschetizky student, Mabel Lander, and they began plans to establish a piano school together in London that would use the Leschetizky method.[2] But the plans had to be abandoned due to Moiseiwitsch's increasingly heavy international concert schedule.[3] He toured the United States (first in 1919), Australia, India, Japan, and South America. Moiseiwitsch was invited by Director Josef Hofmann to teach at the Curtis Institute of Music in 1927. He settled in England and took British citizenship in 1937.

Moiseiwitsch was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1946 for services to music during the Second World War, having performed hundreds of recitals for servicemen and charities.

He married Daisy Kennedy, an Australian concert violinist, and had two daughters, Sandra and the set designer, Tanya Moiseiwitsch. He and his second wife Anita had a son, noted New Zealand National Radio broadcaster Boris Moiseiwitsch.

He was a friend of Nikolai Medtner and commissioned the Piano Concerto No. 3 "Ballade" (1940–43).[4] Like his friend Mark Hambourg he was a member of the Savage Club.[5] He was also a skilled wrestler, and arranged several friendly matches with the critic Ralph Hill, also a wrestling enthusiast.[6]

Moiseiwitsch was particularly known[7] for his interpretations of the late Romantic repertoire, especially the works of Sergei Rachmaninoff (who was an admirer of his playing and referred to Moiseiwitsch as his "spiritual heir"[8]) and Robert Schumann, whose piano music gave Moiseiwitsch "more emotional and spiritual satisfaction than anyone else."[9] At the piano, Moiseiwitsch was noted for his elegance, poetry, lyrical phrasing, brilliance, rhythmic freedom, and relaxed virtuosity.

He made recordings for His Master's Voice (now EMI) starting in the 78RPM shellac era, continuing with long-playing records and into the early stereo era. His distinctive style can be heard in his recording of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the Barcarolle, Ballade No. 4 and Nocturne, Op. 62 of Frédéric Chopin. In 1950 critic and musicologist Irving Kolodin said about the Ballade in F minor of Chopin played by Moiseiwitsch: "A featherweight touch in the opening section of this work, an apt feeling for its "once upon a time" narrative quality give Moiseiwitsch pre-eminence among present day interpreters...", thus summing up the sensitivity of the playing by Benno Moiseiwitsch.[10] He worked meticulously and amicably as a chamber musician, including in Rachmaninoff's Trio Élégiaque and Cello Sonata in G minor. American critic Harold C. Schonberg praised Moiseiwitsch's formidable technique and free approach to the music, adding that such freedom was "always tempered by impeccable musicality."[11]

A comprehensive list of Moiseiwitsch's discography does not exist, but much of his recorded output is available on CD. Although there are duplicates of his recordings on various labels, they differ in sound quality because of the different restoration techniques employed by each of the companies.

• MOISEIWITSCH, Maurice. Moiseiwitsch, biography of a Concert Pianist, London: F.Muller, 1965.

• Georges Cziffra (EMI DVD Classics 4906819) — Bonus footage of Moiseiwitsch playing Wagner-Liszt: Overture to Tannhauser
• The Art of Piano: Great Pianists of the 20th Century — Moiseiwitsch plays Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2 (excerpt), Prelude in B minor Op.32 (the beginning contains commentary) and speaks about a conversation he had with Rachmaninov.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Benno Moiseiwitsch.

• Playing in the Grand Style – Moiseiwitsch discusses the "Grand Style"