Nathan Milstein

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Lore & Background

Milstein was born in Odessa, Russian Empire, as the fourth of seven children in a middle-class Jewish family with no musical background. His mother recognized his early interest in music and encouraged him to take violin lessons at age five, hoping it would keep him out of trouble. From 1909 until the summer of 1914, he studied with Odessa's most esteemed violin teacher, Pyotr Stolyarsky; among his fellow students was a six-year-old David Oistrakh. At age 11, Leopold Auer invited him to become one of his students at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Milstein later recalled, 'Every little boy who had the dream of playing better than the other boy wanted to go to Auer. He was a very gifted man and a good teacher. I used to go to the Conservatory twice a week for classes. I played every lesson with forty or fifty people sitting and listening.' Although Auer does not mention Milstein by name in his memoirs, he refers to 'two boys from Odessa ... both of whom disappeared after I left St. Petersburg in June 1917.' Milstein's name does not appear in the registry of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He also studied with Eugène Ysaÿe in Belgium, but in a 1977 interview Milstein stated, 'I went to Ysaÿe in 1926, but he never paid any attention to me. I think it might have been better this way. I had to think for myself.'

Reader's Guide

Milstein's significance lies in his sustained technical mastery and interpretive depth over a career spanning more than seven decades. He was among the last Russian violinists to have had personal contact with Leopold Auer. In 1921, he met Vladimir Horowitz and his pianist sister Regina in Kiev; they invited him for tea, and Milstein later said, 'I came for tea and stayed three years.' Milstein and Horowitz performed together throughout the Soviet Union as 'children of the revolution.' The premiere of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 in the Soviet Union in 1923 was given just three days after the Paris premiere by two 19-year-olds, Milstein and Horowitz, with Horowitz playing the orchestral part on the piano. Milstein later wrote, 'I feel that if you have a great pianist like Horowitz playing with you, you don't need an orchestra.' They also introduced Karol Szymanowski's First Violin Concerto at the same concert. In 1925, they went on a concert tour of Western Europe together. Milstein made his American debut in 1929 with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra, eventually settling in New York and gaining American citizenship in 1942. After playing many different violins, he acquired the 1716 'Goldman' Stradivarius in 1945, renaming it the 'Maria Teresa' in honor of his daughter Maria and his wife Therese. In 1948, his recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor with Bruno Walter and the New York Philharmonic was the first recording issued in Columbia's LP format. Milstein was awarded the Légion d'honneur by France in 1968 and received a Grammy Award for his recording of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas in 1975. He was also awarded Kennedy Center honors by US President Ronald Reagan. A recital he gave in Stockholm in June 1986, one of his last performances, was recorded in its entirety and shows the remarkable condition of his technique at age 82. A fall shortly afterward in which he severely broke his left hand ended his career. During the late 1980s, Milstein published his memoirs, From Russia to the West, discussing his life of constant performance and socializing, and the personalities of composers such as Alexander Glazunov, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Igor Stravinsky, and conductors such as Arturo Toscanini and Leopold Stokowski, all of whom he knew personally. He also discusses his best friends, pianist Vladimir Horowitz, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and ballet director George Balanchine, as well as other violinists such as Fritz Kreisler and David Oistrakh. Milstein died of a heart attack in London on December 21, 1992, 23 days before his 89th birthday.

Did You Know?

• Milstein was the fourth of seven children in a middle-class Jewish family with no musical background.
• He studied alongside a six-year-old David Oistrakh under Pyotr Stolyarsky.
• Milstein's name does not appear in the registry of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
• His 1948 recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto was the first recording issued in Columbia's LP format.
• Milstein died of a heart attack in London on December 21, 1992, 23 days before his 89th birthday.