This Week in Classical Music: July 20, 2020.Stern 100.Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of Isaac Stern, one of the greatest violinists and cultural figures of the 20th century.Stern was born on July 21st of 1920 in the small town of Kremenets which was then in Poland but is now part of the Ukraine.His family was Jewish, many Jews were leaving the pogrom-ridden lands, and so did the Stern family, just one year after Isaac’s birth.They moved to San Francisco; when Isaac was just eight years old, and he was enrolled in the SF Conservatory.He made his recital début in 1935 and a year later he performed Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto no. 3 with the San Francisco Symphony under the direction of Pierre Monteux.Stern made his New York debut in 1937, then played there again, to great acclaim, in 1939, establishing himself as one of the top young violinists.He was the first American violinist to tour the Soviet Union in 1956, in the midst of the cold war.In 1961 Stern created a trio with the pianist Eugene Istomin and the cellist Leonard Rose; they stayed together for the next 23 years, performing widely in the US and Europe, and making many highly acclaimed recordings.Stern also organized a piano quartet with the pianist Emmanuel Ax, the violinist Jaime Laredo and the cellist Yo-Yo Ma.Stern had a very broad repertoire, playing all major violin concertos, all trios of Beethoven and Brahms, and major sonatas.A big supporter of contemporary music, Stern gave first performances of concertos by William Schuman, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Henri Dutilleux, among others.
In 1960 the then owner of Carnegie Hall, a developer named Robert Simon, attempted to sell the building to the New York Philharmonic.The orchestra, which was about to move to the Lincoln Center, decline (one of the reasons being the consideration – in retrospect quite absurd – that New York cannot support two major concert halls).Simon then decided to demolish Carnegie Hall and build an office tower in its place.Isaac Stern organized a group to save it.Under pressure from the group, New York City bought the building from Simon.Carnegie Hall Corporation was established to run the hall and Stern became its president; he stayed in that capacity for the rest of his life.It’s hard to imagine today how close Carnegie Hall, one of the greatest halls acoustically and historically, came to being demolished.In 1964 Stern was instrumental in establishing the National Endowment for the Arts.
Here’s Brahms’s Piano Trio no 1, performed by Isaac Stern, Eugene Istomin and Leonard Rose.This recording was made in 1966.
Isaac Stern 100
This Week in Classical Music: July 20, 2020. Stern 100. Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of Isaac Stern, one of the greatest violinists and cultural figures of the 20th century. Stern was born
on July 21st of 1920 in the small town of Kremenets which was then in Poland but is now part of the Ukraine. His family was Jewish, many Jews were leaving the pogrom-ridden lands, and so did the Stern family, just one year after Isaac’s birth. They moved to San Francisco; when Isaac was just eight years old, and he was enrolled in the SF Conservatory. He made his recital début in 1935 and a year later he performed Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto no. 3 with the San Francisco Symphony under the direction of Pierre Monteux. Stern made his New York debut in 1937, then played there again, to great acclaim, in 1939, establishing himself as one of the top young violinists. He was the first American violinist to tour the Soviet Union in 1956, in the midst of the cold war. In 1961 Stern created a trio with the pianist Eugene Istomin and the cellist Leonard Rose; they stayed together for the next 23 years, performing widely in the US and Europe, and making many highly acclaimed recordings. Stern also organized a piano quartet with the pianist Emmanuel Ax, the violinist Jaime Laredo and the cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Stern had a very broad repertoire, playing all major violin concertos, all trios of Beethoven and Brahms, and major sonatas. A big supporter of contemporary music, Stern gave first performances of concertos by William Schuman, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Henri Dutilleux, among others.
In 1960 the then owner of Carnegie Hall, a developer named Robert Simon, attempted to sell the building to the New York Philharmonic. The orchestra, which was about to move to the Lincoln Center, decline (one of the reasons being the consideration – in retrospect quite absurd – that New York cannot support two major concert halls). Simon then decided to demolish Carnegie Hall and build an office tower in its place. Isaac Stern organized a group to save it. Under pressure from the group, New York City bought the building from Simon. Carnegie Hall Corporation was established to run the hall and Stern became its president; he stayed in that capacity for the rest of his life. It’s hard to imagine today how close Carnegie Hall, one of the greatest halls acoustically and historically, came to being demolished. In 1964 Stern was instrumental in establishing the National Endowment for the Arts.
Here’s Brahms’s Piano Trio no 1, performed by Isaac Stern, Eugene Istomin and Leonard Rose. This recording was made in 1966.