Neigauz Heinrich Gustavovich: biography, personal life, interesting facts, photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Outstanding pianist and teacher Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus (1888-1964) lived an interesting life full of music. His path was not smooth, despite the fact that he was destined by fate to devote himself to creativity. His biography is full of overcomings, searches, victories. He did a lot for the descendants to remember today who Heinrich Neuhaus is. A representative of which piano school can boast that he combined Russian, Viennese and German techniques and became the founder of his own school and the successor of the family dynasty? All this combined in one man, who was not in vain called Henry the Great.

Childhood and family

Neigauz Genrikh Gustavovich was born on April 12, 1888 in Elisavetgrad (Ukraine) in a very musical family. His father Gustav Wilhelmovich was the son of a simple master who made the piano, from childhood he showed great musical abilities and was given to learn to play the piano. He happened to study at the conservatory withfamous pianist Ferdinand Giller. After graduation, Gustav Neuhaus comes to Russia, where he first works as a home music teacher in an aristocratic family. His authority as a teacher is growing rapidly, and in 1898 he opens his own music school with the support of A. Glazunov and F. Blumenfeld.

Gustav's wife, Heinrich's mother, also came from a family with great musical connections. Olga Blumenfeld was the sister of the remarkable pianist, conductor and composer F. Blumenfeld and the aunt of Karol Szymanowski, a famous Polish composer. She herself was also a pianist and worked with her husband at a music school.

Gustav Neuhaus was a very unusual person, in fact, a domestic despot and pedant, he demanded the most precise execution of all the rules he set. These character traits formed the basis of his pedagogical methodology. He drove the students to a frenzy, forcing them to master the technique. Gustav Wilhelmovich wrote several serious pedagogical works, he was absolutely dedicated to his work and had a fantastic capacity for work, which became a Neuhaus family trait.

Education

Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus, whose biography, according to him, is "soaked in music", from childhood was forced to learn musical notation and learn to play the piano. His father fully tested his pedagogical technique on him and forced the boy to spend hours learning pieces and honing his technique, he was determined to raise brilliant pianists from his children. All this has been pissing me off since childhood. Heinrich, he hated scales until old age and did not force his students to cram them. Under the strong pressure of the parent, Heinrich develops an independent character.

In 1905 he left his studies with his father and went to Berlin, where he took lessons from the famous composer, conductor and pianist L. Godowsky. In Berlin, Neuhaus communicates with outstanding musicians: A. Rubinstein, M. Zadora, A. Shelyuto. After some time, he moved to the studio of P. Yuon, then again returned to Godowsky. During this time, Heinrich experiences long periods of absolute self-doubt. He abandons composition and decides to focus on performing arts. Since 1912, Neuhaus has been studying at the Godowsky School of Masters at the Vienna Academy of Music and Performing Arts, from which he graduated two years later. But in Russia, he needed a Russian diploma in order to be able to work and not be drafted into the army. In 1915, Neuhaus took exams externally at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and received a diploma as a "free artist".

The way to the stage

Heinrich's fate was a foregone conclusion, despite his attempts to find his own way in life, he could not leave the music. After all, even in childhood, Heinrich Neuhaus gives the first concerts. So, at the age of 9, he performed w altzes and an impromptu by F. Chopin, learned under the guidance of his father, in front of the public. At the age of 14, he already plays Chopin's preludes and Schumann's Fantastic Pieces. In 1903, he and his sister left for Warsaw, where he took lessons from A. Michalovsky and after that made a short tour of Germany, in which Heinrich performed worksChopin and Strauss. R. Strauss himself takes part in one of these concerts, conducting the performance of his compositions. He highly appreciated Neuhaus' style and technique.

Career

Since 1919 Neuhaus Heinrich Gustavovich lives in Kyiv and gives a huge number of concerts with bright and varied programs in which one could hear the music of Prokofiev, Chopin, Bach, Shimanovsky. In 1922 he moved to Moscow, performed with the quartet. Beethoven, gives many solo concerts. Contemporaries remember his performances of that time with delight because of the unusual manner of performance. Experts say that the features of his performing style are associated with a unique combination of German, Viennese and Russian traditions. In addition, his performance was influenced by his personality, he was never the same, in general he was distinguished by a great unevenness of his performing skills, but he was always absolutely sincere, he lived the music every time, and did not reproduce it technically.

In 1933, Neuhaus suffered from diphtheria, which developed into a severe polyneuritis, with which he fought for almost a year, but the consequences in the form of a partial paresis of his right hand remained forever. The audience could not even imagine that this brilliant performer was playing, overcoming pain. He continued to give concerts until 1960, delighting the audience every time.

Repertoire and legacy

Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus is an outstanding pianist of the 20th century, who was distinguished by his uniqueplaying style and bright character. In his repertoire there were a lot of works by Chopin, he had many memories associated with this composer. He compiled his first, children's concert programs from the compositions of this Polish author. And later, throughout his life, he turned to Chopin, made several editions of many of his works. But in addition, Heinrich Neuhaus performed Scriabin, Schumann, Beethoven, Liszt, played works by contemporary composers. He was the first in Russia to perform 24 Debussy Preludes in one concert.

Also, the creative heritage of Heinrich Gustavovich includes works on the methodology of teaching piano technique. His book "On the Art of Piano Playing", his diaries and letters have become a serious contribution to pedagogical musical theory and practice.

Neuhaus's legacy has had a significant impact on the development of the performing arts in Russia and the world, and, of course, recordings of his performances remain a source of delight for all lovers of the piano art, and especially Chopin fans.

Pedagogical activity

Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus, whose photos of his students can be seen on the posters of the best concert halls in the world, devoted almost 50 years of his life to teaching. He began his teaching career in Tiflis in 1916, where he was invited by the director of the Imperial Russian Musical Society N. Nikolaev. The students there were weak, and the work did not bring much pleasure, but it allowed them to start developing their own teaching methods. Since 1919Neuhaus Heinrich Gustavovich is a teacher at the Kyiv Conservatory, where he works together with F. Blumenfeld. In 1922, both teachers, by order of A. N. Lunacharsky, were transferred to Moscow. Neuhaus becomes a professor at the Moscow Conservatory and will serve in this position for 42 years. Only during the Second World War did he take a short break from teaching, from 1942 to 1944 he was evacuated to the Urals, where he conducted an active concert activity.

Starting from 1932, students of Neuhaus began to loudly declare themselves at music competitions of various levels. He put his soul into each of his "pets", bringing both himself and the student to exhaustion, here, apparently, children's father's lessons had an effect. Heinrich Neuhaus is the founder of the most powerful Moscow piano school, whose graduates are famous performers: S. Richter, V. Krainev, E. Gilels, S. Neuhaus, A. Lyubimov, Ya. Zak, V. Gornostaeva, A. Nasedkin. The essence of his teaching methodology was the predominance of content over form, he taught performers to penetrate the essence of the work, to live it, and did not fight for the technique of performance.

Genrikh Gustavovich also left a great theoretical, pedagogical heritage, he regularly wrote articles for specialized journals, kept a diary of professional notes and reflections. He devoted a large amount of time to work at various competitions, helping to identify talents. His students were able to record several of the master's lessons, which today exemplify the use of a unique teaching methodology.

Private life

Neigauz Heinrich Gustavovich, whose personal life was also unusual and interesting, was married three times. The first wife of the pianist was his student at the Kyiv Conservatory - Zinaida Yeremeeva. Zinaida Neuhaus gave birth to two sons to the musician: Adrian and Stanislav. In difficult times, she was the support and support of her husband, she devoted all her strength to ensuring his comfort. However, it so happened that Heinrich cheated on her with his first love, Milica Borodkina, who gave birth to a daughter out of wedlock from him. This upset the Neuhaus marriage. Zinaida leaves Heinrich for his friend Boris Pasternak. The pianist was crushed, but he was able to find strength in himself and maintained friendship with both the poet and his first wife. Many letters have been preserved in which he declares his love for her.

Militsa became the second wife of Neuhaus, she went through difficult years with him. In 1933, Genrikh Gustavovich fell ill and struggled with the consequences of the disease for the rest of his life, Militsa assiduously helped him in this for a long time. 1937 was a very difficult year for Neuhaus: parents die one after another, and then a terrible misfortune comes - his eldest son Adrian dies. Work and creativity help the pianist to survive all the difficulties. In 1941, Neuhaus was accused of anti-Soviet activities and sentenced to exile, his wife and daughter remain in Moscow, but constantly fuss with his friends about release. After 3 years he was released, but during the exile he lost almost all his teeth, and his he alth was severely damaged. After Milica's death in 1962, Neuhaus marries SylviaEichinger, whom he had known for a very long time.

Musician Neuhaus Genrikh Gustavovich died on October 10, 1964, was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Dynasty

Today the Neuhaus dynasty is a rare example of family talent passed down from generation to generation. Gustav Neuhaus became the founder of the dynasty. His greatest son Heinrich glorified the family thanks to his performing and pedagogical work. His son Stanislav also became a pianist. He was distinguished by gentleness of character and fantastic family perseverance in work. His manner of performance was built on the finest sense of music and its content. He became one of the brightest representatives of his father's piano school, who put his precepts into practice. Heinrich and Stanislav Neuhaus became the best Chopin performers in the world.

Stanislav had two children: daughter Marina and son Heinrich. Stanislav Neuhaus, like his father, taught pianistic art and put a lot of soul into his son. Heinrich Neuhaus Jr. became the successor of the dynasty, he also grew into a significant master of piano music, he also works a lot as a music critic.

Neuhaus personality

Heinrich Neuhaus, whose biography is inextricably linked with music, was, in addition, a man of colossal erudition. He closely communicated and was friends with such artists as B. Pasternak, O. Mandelstam, V. Asmus, N. Vilmont, R. Falk, and with many prominentmusicians of today. Heinrich Gustavovich was a very enthusiastic person, he could work to a frenzy on some performing task, achieving perfection. Himself, being a highly intellectual person, he also fully contributed to the development of his students, with whom he established friendly, rather than mentoring relationships. Neuhaus was most often a very self-absorbed person, sometimes he could not utter a word for days on end. This did not prevent him from enjoying communicating with people, but he knew how to devote his time to everything.

Interesting facts

Neigauz Heinrich Gustavovich, interesting facts from whose life are mainly related to music, became famous for having performed all the works of Chopin, some of them in different editions.

Neuhaus belongs to rare dynasties in music, where the level of skill of representatives of different generations remains practically at the same high level. B. Pasternak and O. Mandelstam, with whom he was close friends, dedicated their poems to Heinrich Neuhaus.

During his music lessons, Neuhaus did not tolerate anyone's presence nearby. Most often, he worked in the country and demanded that no one be in the house at that moment. Moreover, he preferred to study at night, as he was an owl.