Lazar Naumovich Berman (Russian Лазарь Наумович Берман, Lasari Naumovič Berman, February 26, 1930 in Leningrad - February 6, 2005 in Florence) was a Soviet Russian classical pianist. is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the city in Italy. ... Soviet redirects here. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ...

Berman's playing showed great technical brilliance, showmanship, emotional and physical force. He had the endurance to play three concertos or four sonatas in one night, and was considered a brilliant interpreter of Franz Liszt, winning the 1977 Franz Liszt Prize in Hungary for his interpretation of the Transcendental Studies. Berman once described the driving forces of his style as being lyricism, clarity and virtuosity. A piano concerto is a concerto for solo piano and orchestra. ... A piano sonata is a sonata written for unaccompanied piano. ... Liszt redirects here. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... The Transcendental Etudes (sometimes Études dexécution transcendante or Transcendental Studies) is a series of twelve compositions written for solo piano by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, begun in 1826 and finalized in 1851. ...

Berman refused to play Chopin, explaining "Of course I used to play him, but many years ago I entered for a Chopin competition in Warsaw and I did not qualify. It was a tremendous blow to my pride, and I vowed that I would never play him again." His playing of Chopin, however, is well documented, in both a concert film and a DGG recording of the polonaises from the 1970's. Chopin redirects here. ... For other uses, see Warsaw (disambiguation) and Warszawa (disambiguation). ...

Biography

Berman was born to Jewish parents in Leningrad. His mother, Anna Makhover, had played the piano herself until ear problems stopped her. She introduced the boy to the piano, and he entered his first competition at the age of three, and recorded a Mozart fantasia and a mazurka that he had composed himself at the age of seven, before he could even read music. Emil Gilels described him as a "phenomenon of the musical world". When Lazar was nine, the family moved to Moscow so that he could study with Alexander Goldenweiser at the Conservatoire, as well as Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Sofronitsky and Maria Yudina. The next year he made his formal debut playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1941, students, pupils and parents were evacuated to Kuibichev, a city on the Volga, because of World War II. Living conditions were so poor that his mother had to cut the fingers from a pair of gloves to allow him to continue to practise without freezing his hands. “Mozart” redirects here. ... The fantasia (also English: , German: , French: ) is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. ... The mazurka (Polish: mazurek, named after Polands Mazovia district; mazurka is the feminine form of mazurek) is a Polish folk dance in triple metre with a lively tempo, containing a heavy accent on the third or second beat. ... Emil Grigoryevich Gilels (Russian: Эми́ль Григо́рьевич Ги́лельс, Emili Gregorievič Gilelis; October 19, 1916 – October 14, 1985) was a Soviet pianist. ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... The Moscow Conservatory (Московская Государственная Консерватория им. П.И.Чайковского) is a prominent music school in Russia. ... Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter (Russian: , Svjatoslav Teofilovič Rikhter) (March 20 [O.S. March 7] 1915 – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet pianist, widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. ... Vladimir Sofronitsky (May 8/April 25, 1901–August 26, 1961), Russian pianist and a pupil, follower, and son-in-law to Alexander Scriabin. ... Maria Yudina or Mariya Yudina (1899 in Nevel, Russia - 1970 in Moscow) was a Russian pianist. ... The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Samara (Russian: ) (from 1935 to 1991—Kuybyshev ()) is the sixth-largest city in Russia. ... For other meanings of the word Volga see Volga (disambiguation) Волга Length 3,690 km Elevation of the source 225 m Average discharge  ? m³/s Area watershed 1. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

He subsequently began to acquire a small international visibility. At the age of 12 he played Liszt's La Campanella to a British audience over the radio; in 1956 he won a prize at the Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in Belgium, with Vladimir Ashkenazy; and in 1958, he performed in London and recorded for Saga records. La Campanella is a piano etude written by virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt as part of a series of the six Grandes Etudes de Paganini (Grand Paganini Etudes), S. 141. ... A car from 1956 Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, a founding member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (1957) has been, since its foundation, considered the world over to be one of the most prestigious, but also one of the most difficult in existence. ... Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (Russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович А́шкенази, Vladimir Davidovič Aškenasi) (b. ... Jan. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Although he was known to international music aficionados who had heard the occasional recording on the Russian Melodiya record label, as well as those who visited the Soviet Union, he was not generally well known outside Russia before his 1975 American tour, organised by the impresario Jacques Leiser. His now legendary New York debut at the 92 Street Y, where he played Liszt's Transcendental Etudes, struck the music world like a lightning. He became an overnight sensation. Before that, he had been generally restricted to the Soviet concert circuit, playing on old and decrepit pianos to audiences of varied degrees of interest. Invitations to tour outside the Soviet Union were ignored by the Soviet state concert agency, Gosconcert. He lived in a tiny two-room apartment in Moscow, with a grand piano occupying an entire room. But after his 1975 tour, he was immediately in great demand, with Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, and CBS vying to record him. He recorded the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto with Herbert von Karajan, as well as broadcasting it on international television with Antal Dorati, to mark United Nations Day in 1976. His recordings with Claudio Abado conducting (particularly the works of Rachmaninoff) are still in high demand and are considered by many to be definitive. Melodiya (Russian: Μелодия) was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... An impresario is a manager or producer in one of the entertainment industries, usually Music or Theatre. ... Jacques Leiser is an international artists manager and photographer who has represented and collaborated with many of the worlds greatest concert pianists, composers, violinists, composers and singers. ... A grand piano from Schiedmayer & Söhne, Stuttgart. ... Logo Deutsche Grammophon is a German record label. ... For other uses, see EMI (disambiguation). ... This article is about the broadcast network. ... “Tchaikovsky” redirects here. ... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No. ... Herbert von Karajan (April 5, 1908 – July 16, 1989) was an Austrian conductor. ... Antal Dor ti (April 9, 1906 - November 13, 1988) was a conductor and composer. ... United Nations Day is celebrated internationally on 24 October for the purpose of informing the people of the world as to the aims, goals, and achievements of the UN. It commemorates the coming into being of the United Nations Organization on that day in 1945 when the UN Charter was... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Most of his British appearances came in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In December 1976, he performed music by Sergei Prokofiev and Franz Liszt at the Royal Festival Hall, in 1978 he played Liszt's A major concerto with Klaus Tennstedt and the London Symphony Orchestra, and in 1984 he played Tchaikovsky's B-flat minor concerto with Sir John Pritchard at the Proms. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: , Sergej Sergejevič Prokofijev; April 27 (April 151 O.S.), 1891–March 5, 1953) was a Russian and Soviet composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. ... Liszt redirects here. ... The Royal Festival Hall reopening celebrations The Royal Festival Hall is a concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Franz Liszt wrote drafts for his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. ... Klaus Tennstedt (June 6, 1926 - January 11, 1998) was a German conductor. ... The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the year. ... Sir John Michael Pritchard CBE (February 5, 1921 – December 5, 1989) was an English conductor. ... A Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall, 2004. ...

The Soviet authorities even then intermittently restricted his international travels; in 1980 his scheduled appearance at the Llandaff Festival had to be cancelled. It was at that time when after a trip to the West, American literature banned in the Soviet Union was found in his luggage by the KGB watchdogs. As the result, his name was black-listed, and his career was black-flagged by the Soviet authorities. His being Jewish only aggravated the issue (In the Soviet Union, Jews were considered potential dissidents and subjects to flee the country.) The frequency of this interference declined, however, as the Soviet Union entered the last phase of its existence, and he finally left Russia for Italy in 1990, settling in Florence in 1995. Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the city in Italy. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ...

He was survived by his wife Valentina, also a pianist, whom he married in 1961, and their only son, the talented violinist and conductor Pavel Berman. Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Recently, his memoires were published in German and in Russian. They are titled "The Years of Peregrination. A Musician's Reverie".

External links

• Times Colonist Obituary
• Recordings of Lazar Berman
• Lazar Berman commercial discography
• Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks