Igor Oistrakh
Soviet and Russian violinist (1931–2021)
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Igor Davidovich Oistrakh (Russian: Игорь Давидович Ойстрах; 27 April 1931 – 14 August 2021) was a Soviet and Russian violinist. He was described by Encyclopædia Britannica as "noted for his lean, modernist interpretations".[1]
Life and career
Oistrakh was born on 27 April 1931 in Odessa to a Jewish family.[1] He was the son of Tamara Rotareva and the violinist David Oistrakh.[2] He began studying violin with Valeria Merenbloom at age 6,[3] though his main teacher was his father.[4][5] In 1943, the 12-year-old Oistrakh enrolled in the Central Music School, Moscow, studying with Pyotr Stolyarsky who had taught both his father and Nathan Milstein.[3][6] He made his concert debut in 1948;[7] the next year he won the International Violin Competition in Budapest and enrolled in the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.[2] He won the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in 1952 and graduated from Moscow Conservatory in 1955.[5]
He then joined the faculty of the Conservatory in 1958, becoming a lecturer in 1965. From 1996 to 2010 Oistrakh held the post of Professor of the Royal Conservatory in Brussels.[8][9]
Oistrakh appeared frequently internationally, both as a soloist and in joint recitals with his father, or with his father conducting.[1] His wife Natalya Zertsalova is a pianist and has performed with him.[1] Their son, Valery, is an active violinist.[2][10][11]
After living and working in Brussels in Belgium with his family, Oistrakh returned to Russia in 2011.
He was twice a member of the jury of the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznan (1972, 1977).[12]
On 14 August 2021, Oistrakh died at age 90 from acute heart failure; however, media generally reported this on 1 September 2021.[13] After cremation, the musician's ashes were buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.[14]