Alexandre. Bak Prokofiev

Eugene Ormandy Over a period of four decades, from the 1940s until the beginning of the '80s, Eugene Ormandy was a mainstay of the classical music world. As music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra for more than 40 years, beginning in 1938, he was one of the most popular conductors in America, and his recordings with that orchestra on the Columbia Masterworks label consistently outsold by a wide margin the recordings of the admittedly superior New York Philharmonic under Dimitri Mitropoulos.

Eugene Ormandy Over a period of four decades, from the 1940s until the beginning of the '80s, Eugene Ormandy was a mainstay of the classical music world. As music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra for more than 40 years, beginning in 1938, he was one of the most popular conductors in America, and his recordings with that orchestra on the Columbia Masterworks label consistently outsold by a wide margin the recordings of the admittedly superior New York Philharmonic under Dimitri Mitropoulos.

Eugene Ormandy Over a period of four decades, from the 1940s until the beginning of the '80s, Eugene Ormandy was a mainstay of the classical music world. As music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra for more than 40 years, beginning in 1938, he was one of the most popular conductors in America, and his recordings with that orchestra on the Columbia Masterworks label consistently outsold by a wide margin the recordings of the admittedly superior New York Philharmonic under Dimitri Mitropoulos.

Disciple de Neuhaus, enfant prodige certes mais « raisonnable » dans la poursuite de sa jeune carrière qu’il avait commencée à l’âge de douze ans avant de remettre son ouvrage sur le métier, Emil Gilels attendit de remporter le Concours Reine Elisabeth cuvée 1938 – c’était le tout premier concours Reine Elisabeth (alors encore appelé Concours Ysaÿe) consacré au piano, l’année précédente ayant couronné le violon et Oistrakh – pour accueillir grand nombre d’invitations internationales… mains la Guerre vint interrompre cette ascension, et c’est à travers l’URSS que le pianiste fit ses premières armes sur scène puis, à partir de 1946, dans les pays du Bloc de l’est. En 1945, il avait formé un fameux trio avec son beau-frère Leonid Kogan et Rostropovitch, remporté le Prix Staline en 1946, et développé une activité qui ne deviendrait internationale qu’à partir de 1955 : une tournée états-unienne avec l’Orchestre de Philadelphie et Ormandy, suivie de ses débuts londoniens en 1959 et, seulement dix ans plus tard, Salzbourg puis Vienne. Ainsi qu’on peut en juger, Gilels ne se pressa jamais – ou n’eut jamais loisir de se presser, même s’il faisait partie des happy few qui avaient le droit de se produire « à l’Ouest ». Aussi est-il éminemment regrettable qu’en 1981, Gilels fut victime d’un infarctus après un concert au Concertgebouw d’Amsterdam, après quoi sa santé resta chancelante et il s’éteignit en 1985, peu avant son soixante-neuvième anniversaire. Le cœur du répertoire de Gilels couvre la grande période classique jusqu’au romantisme tardif, avec quelques incursions dans le XXe siècle de Prokofiev (dont il créa la Huitième Sonate en 1944), Rachmaninov – qui lui avait fait cadeau de sa médaille et son diplôme du Conservatoire de Moscou –, Medtner, Scriabine ou Debussy (ce dernier assez rare dans le monde du piano à la russe), ainsi que dans la sphère baroque avec Bach et Scarlatti.

Sviatoslav Richter Having learned the fundamentals of music from his father, Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter taught himself the piano and had already given public concerts before entering the Moscow Conservatory in 1937. While still a student, Richter won first prize at the All-Union Contest of Performers of 1945. His playing earned him considerable renown, and by the time of his graduation in 1947 he had devoted fans. In 1949 he garnered the coveted Stalin Prize. Richter gave the 1942 premiere of Sergey Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 6 – the composer's first work in that form for years, and the first one he did not premiere himself.

Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100, in Soviet Russia in one month in the summer of 1944. Fourteen years had passed since Prokofiev wrote the first version of his Symphony No. 4 in C major. World War II was still raging during the symphony's gestation, and Prokofiev composed it in the Soviet Union. He gave out in a statement at the time that he intended it as "a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit." He added "I cannot say that I deliberately chose this theme. It was born in me and clamoured for expression. The music matured within me. It filled my soul.

Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with the orchestra is one of the longest enjoyed by any conductor with any American orchestra. Ormandy made numerous recordings with the orchestra, and as guest conductor with European orchestras, and achieved three gold records and two Grammy Awards. His reputation was as a skilled technician and expert orchestral builder.

Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with the orchestra is one of the longest enjoyed by any conductor with any American orchestra. Ormandy made numerous recordings with the orchestra, and as guest conductor with European orchestras, and achieved three gold records and two Grammy Awards. His reputation was as a skilled technician and expert orchestral builder.

Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with the orchestra is one of the longest enjoyed by any conductor with any American orchestra. Ormandy made numerous recordings with the orchestra, and as guest conductor with European orchestras, and achieved three gold records and two Grammy Awards. His reputation was as a skilled technician and expert orchestral builder.