The 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 fate himself was destined to devote himself to creativity. His biography is full of overcomes, searches, victories. He did a lot for the descendants to remember today who Heinrich Neuhaus is. The representative of which piano school can boast that he combined the Russian, Viennese and German techniques and became the founder of his own school and the continuer of the family dynasty? All this was combined in one person who was not in vain nicknamed Henry the Great.
Childhood and family
Neigauz Heinrich Gustavovich was born on April 12, 1888 in Elizavetgrad (Ukraine) in a very musical family. His father Gustav Wilhelmovich was the son of a simple master who made the piano, from childhood showed great musical abilities and was given to learn to play the piano. He happened to study at the conservatory with the famous pianist Ferdinand Hiller. After graduation, Gustav Neuhaus arrives in 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 opened his own music school with the support of A. Glazunov and F. Blumenfeld.
Gustav’s wife, Henry’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 aunt Karol Szymanowski, a famous Polish composer. She herself was also a pianist and worked with her husband at a music school.
Gustav Neygauz was a very unusual person, in fact, a home despot and pedant, he demanded the most accurate execution of all the rules he established. These character traits formed the basis of his pedagogical methodology. He drove the students into a frenzy, forcing them to master the technique. Gustav Wilhelmovich wrote several serious pedagogical works, he was absolutely devoted to his work and had fantastic capacity for work, which became the Neigauz family trait.
Education
Heinrich Gustavovich Neigauz, whose biography, according to him, is “saturated with music”, from childhood was forced to learn musical notation and learn to play the piano. His father fully tested his pedagogical methodology on him and forced the boy to learn plays and hone his technique for hours, he was determined to grow brilliant pianists from his children. All this, from childhood, infuriated Henry, he hated scales until old and did not force his students to cram them. Under the severe pressure of the parent, Henry develops an independent character.
In 1905, he leaves his father's studies and goes to Berlin, where he takes lessons from the famous composer, conductor and pianist L. Godowsky. In Berlin, Neuhaus communicates with prominent musicians: A. Rubinstein, M. Zadora, A. Sheluto. After a while, he transferred to the studio of P. Yuon, then again returned to Godovsky. At this time, Henry is experiencing long periods of absolute self-doubt. He refuses composition and decides to focus on performing art. Since 1912, Neuhaus has been studying at the Godowsky School of Masters at the Vienna Academy of Music and Performing Arts, which he graduates from after two years. But in Russia, he needed a Russian diploma in order to be able to work and not be drafted into the army. In 1915, Neygauz externally passed exams at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and received a diploma of “free artist”.
Way to the stage
The fate of Henry was a foregone conclusion, despite his attempts to find his own path in life, he could not get away from music. After all, even as a child, Heinrich Neuhaus gives his first concerts. So, at the age of 9, he performs waltzes and impromptu 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. Mikhalovsky and then made a short tour of Germany, in which Henry performed works by Chopin and Strauss. R. Strauss himself takes part in one of these concerts , conducting the performance of his compositions. He praised the manner of execution and the technique of Neuhaus.
Career
Since 1919, Neigauz Heinrich Gustavovich has been living in Kiev and gives a huge number of concerts with vivid and varied programs in which one could hear the music of Prokofiev, Chopin, Bach, Shimanovsky. In 1922 he moved to Moscow, performs with a quartet of them. Beethoven gives many recitals. Contemporaries recall his performances of that time with enthusiasm because of the unusual manner of performance. Specialists claim that the features of his performing style are associated with a unique combination of German, Viennese and Russian traditions. In addition, his personality influenced his performance, he was never the same, he was generally distinguished by a great unevenness in performing skills, but he was always absolutely sincere, he lived music every time, and did not technically reproduce it.
In 1933, Neuhaus suffered diphtheria, which grew into a severe polyneuritis, with which he struggled 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 ingenious performer is playing, overcoming pain. He continues to give concerts until 1960, each time enthralling the audience.
Repertoire and Heritage
Heinrich Gustavovich Neigauz is an outstanding pianist of the 20th century, who was distinguished by a unique manner of playing and a vivid character. In his repertoire there were a lot of Chopin's works, with this composer he had a lot of memories connected. He composed 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 the works of modern composers. He was the first in Russia to perform 24 preludes by Debussy in one concert.
The creative heritage of Heinrich Gustavovich also includes works on the methodology of teaching piano technology. His book “On the Art of Piano Playing”, his diaries and letters became a serious contribution to pedagogical musical theory and practice.
The heritage of Neuhaus had a significant impact on the development of performing arts in Russia and the world, and, of course, the recordings of his performances remain a source of pleasure for all lovers of piano art, and especially fans of F. Chopin.
Educational activities
Heinrich Gustavovich Neigauz, whose 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 give much pleasure, but allowed to begin to develop their own teaching methods. Since 1919, Neigauz Heinrich Gustavovich is a teacher at the Kiev Conservatory, where he works with F. Blumenfeld. In 1922, both teachers, on the orders of A.N. Lunacharsky, were transferred to Moscow. Neygauz becomes a professor at the Moscow Conservatory and will work in this position for 42 years. Only during World War II did he take a short break in teaching, from 1942 to 1944 he was evacuated in the Urals, where he conducted an active concert activity.
Beginning in 1932, the students of Neuhaus start loudly declaring themselves at music competitions of various levels. He put his soul into each of his "pet", exhausting both himself and the student, here, apparently, the children's father’s lessons affected. Heinrich Neygauz is the founder of the most powerful Moscow piano school, whose graduates are famous performers: S. Richter, V. Krainev, E. Gilels, S. Neygauz, A. Lyubimov, Y. 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, live it, and did not fight for the technique of performance.
Heinrich Gustavovich also left a great theoretical and pedagogical heritage, he regularly wrote articles for specialized journals, and kept a diary of professional notes and thoughts. He devoted a lot of time to work at various competitions, helping to identify talents. His students were able to record several lessons of the master, which today are an example of using a unique teaching methodology.
Personal life
Neigauz Henry Gustavovich, whose personal life was also unusual and interesting, was married three times. The first wife of the pianist was his student at the Kiev Conservatory - Zinaida Eremeeva. Zinaida Neigauz gave birth to the musician two sons: 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 Henry betrayed her with his first love, Militsa Borodkina, who gave birth to a daughter out of wedlock from him. This upset the marriage of the Neuhaus. Zinaida leaves from Henry to his friend Boris Pasternak. The pianist was crushed, but was able to find strength in himself and maintained friendship with the poet and his first wife. Many letters have been preserved in which he declares his love to her.
Militsa became the second wife of Neuhaus; she went through difficult years with him. In 1933, Heinrich Gustavovich fell ill and struggled with the consequences of the disease for the rest of his life. Militsa helped him in this for a long time. The year 1937 was very difficult for Neygauz: one after another, parents die, and then a terrible misfortune comes - his eldest son Adrian dies. To survive all the difficulties the pianist is helped by work and creativity. In 1941, Neigauz was accused of anti-Soviet activity and sentenced to exile, his wife and daughter remain in Moscow, but are constantly busy with his friends about his release. After 3 years he was released, but during the time of exile he lost almost all his teeth, severely undermined his health. After the death of Militsa in 1962, Neuhaus marries Sylvia Eichinger, whom he had known for a very long time.
The musician Neigauz Heinrich Gustavovich died on October 10, 1964, and was buried in 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 Henry 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 tenacity in work. His manner of performance was built on the subtlest feeling of music, its content. He became one of the brightest representatives of his father's piano school, translating his covenants into practice. Heinrich and Stanislav Neigauzy became the best performers of Chopin in the world.
Two children were born to Stanislav: daughter Marina and son Henry. Stanislav Neygauz, like his father, taught pianistic art and put a lot of soul into his son. Heinrich Neuhaus Jr. became a successor to the dynasty, he also grew up as a significant master of piano music, also works a lot as a music critic.
The identity of Neuhaus
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. Wilmont, R. Falk, and with many prominent musicians of our time. Heinrich Gustavovich was a very enthusiastic person, he could work on some kind of performing task to achieve frenzy, 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 say a word all day. This did not prevent him from communicating with people with pleasure, but he knew how to devote everything to his time.
Interesting Facts
Neigauz Heinrich Gustavovich, whose interesting facts from his life are mainly related to music, became famous for performing 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 almost at a consistently high level. B. Pasternak and O. Mandelstam, with whom he was close friends, devoted their verses to Heinrich Neuhaus.
During his studies in music, Neuhaus did not tolerate anyone's presence nearby. Most often, he worked in the country and demanded that at this moment no one was in the house. And he preferred to practice at night, as he was an owl.