37 Facts About Jascha Spivakovsky

Jascha Spivakovsky was a Russian Empire-born Australian piano virtuoso of the 20th century.

Jascha Spivakovsky was hailed as a child prodigy in Odessa but almost murdered by Imperial Guards during the 1905 Pogrom.

Jascha Spivakovsky fled to Berlin and was declared the heir of Anton Rubinstein and likened to Ignacy Paderewski and Teresa Carreno before being imprisoned as an Imperial Russian enemy alien during World War I In the interwar period he became internationally recognized as one of the greatest pianists in the world and regarded in Europe as the finest living interpreter of Brahms.

Jascha Spivakovsky formed a trio which toured Europe with phenomenal success and was declared the finest in the world.

Jascha Spivakovsky fled to Australia a few days before the Nazi seizure of power and put his musical career on hold to help people escape the Third Reich.

Jascha Spivakovsky was born in a small village near Kiev, Russian Empire into a 400-year-old line of musicians.

Jascha Spivakovsky began playing the piano unprompted at three years of age: hearing a busker in the street below his family's apartment, he reproduced the melody on the family piano and added a flawless left hand accompaniment.

Jascha Spivakovsky was taught by his father until the age of six when the family moved to Odessa so he could receive expert instruction.

When this mob stormed their apartment block and murdered the ground-floor tenant, the Jascha Spivakovsky family climbed onto the roof where they could see Cossack Imperial Guards approaching on horseback.

Jascha Spivakovsky gave concerts to support the now penniless family and save money for them to move to a safer country.

Jascha Spivakovsky was awarded pupillage at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory in Berlin, where the faculty included direct students of Franz Liszt and Anton Rubinstein, such as Karl Klindworth and Alberto Jonas.

Jascha Spivakovsky demonstrated such musical understanding and such technical potential that it would be impossible not to look forward with great interest to his future development.

Jascha Spivakovsky then proceeded to tour Europe and performed with leading conductors including Willem Mengelberg.

Jascha Spivakovsky's name is Jascha Spiwakowski and he comes from the same district in Russia as Mischa Elman.

Jascha Spivakovsky is only 17 years old, but has played in London and been acclaimed as a prodigy whose temperament and technical accomplishments are reminiscent of Carreno and Paderewski.

Jascha Spivakovsky remained under strict military supervision but was allowed to resume performing towards the end of the war.

Jascha Spivakovsky then toured Europe with his twelve-year-old brother Tossy, who had debuted as a violin prodigy in Berlin a few years earlier.

Jascha Spivakovsky was appointed the youngest-ever concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra by Furtwangler.

Jascha Spivakovsky's technique is superb, but one becomes oblivious to the purely mechanical perfection of his art in the delightful nuances of tone and colour of his playing, and the naturalness of expression in his interpretation.

Jascha Spivakovsky's interpretations have soul, that greatest asset, and a glorious mellow beauty of song-like tone which is enthralling.

Jascha Spivakovsky's tour was much extended until he had given 75 concerts over seven months.

Jascha Spivakovsky then proceeded to New Zealand where his performances were acclaimed as the greatest heard by that generation and he was ranked at the level of Paderewski, Carreno, Mark Hambourg and Sir Charles Halle.

The young Russian Jascha Spivakovsky let the elegance, transparent beauty and clever wit of the piano-voice emerge.

Jascha Spivakovsky remained in Vienna and gave a series of hugely successful recitals.

Jascha Spivakovsky proceeded to tour Italy and Spain and sparked more scenes of wild enthusiasm.

Jascha Spivakovsky seems to call up the spirit of each composer in turn.

In 1930 the Jascha Spivakovsky Trio was born when the brothers were joined by Edmund Kurtz, the personal cellist of Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova who had studied with Pablo Casals.

Jascha Spivakovsky hurriedly arranged an Australasian tour of 70 concerts for the Trio and they boarded ship a few days before the Nazi seizure of power in 1933.

Jascha Spivakovsky put his touring career on hold and worked tirelessly to convince Great Depression-ravaged employers in Australia and elsewhere to sponsor visas for these people.

That same year Jascha Spivakovsky became a proud Australian citizen and British subject.

Jascha Spivakovsky's touring then followed the winter concert season around the world non-stop for the next 14 years, broadening his reach to the United States, Great Britain, Europe, Canada, Australasia, Israel, India, Singapore and parts of Africa.

Jascha Spivakovsky had been broadcast on radio and television stations around the world.

Jascha Spivakovsky continued to teach as a professor at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and mentor younger pianists including William Kapell, Julius Katchen and Shura Cherkassky.

Jascha Spivakovsky continued to lead the Australian Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, which he had founded in the 1930s at the personal request of his friend Bronislaw Huberman.

Jascha Spivakovsky raised the funds for their first tour of Australia and suggested they engage the young conductor Zubin Mehta.

Jascha Spivakovsky died at his Melbourne home on 23 March 1970.

Jascha Spivakovsky is, quite simply, one of the greatest pianists I have ever heard.