Milestones Of A Legend

The list of world-famous interpreters who found their way to the West from Russia, either personally or as the offspring of an emigrated family, is long. Very high up on it is the name Nathan Milstein (1904 Odessa - 1992 London). Milstein's international career began in 1929, when he completed a US tour with Gregor Piatigorsky and Vladimir Horowitz and moved there permanently. But he had not been unknown even in the Soviet Union. As a four-year-old, he received his first lessons from Pyotr Stoljarsky, who also taught David Oistrakh, and made his debut at the age of ten: the Glasunov Concerto conducted by the composer. He studied under Leopold Auer in 1915 at the famous St. Petersburg Conservatory together with Heifetz and Elman, and completed a successful concert tour through the Soviet Union - with Horowitz on piano - in 1923. In the mid-1920s, celebrated performances in Berlin and Paris encouraged him to travel to the USA. Ever since then, his career has been documented in often award-winning audio recordings, which are also the focus of this box-set. The instrument heard here most often is a Stradivarius from 1716, which Milstein named after his wife and daughter: Marie-Therèse.