Nathan Milstein

Nathan Milstein (Nathan Mironovich Milstein) was a Russian violinist born on December 31, 1903 - some sources say December 31, 1904 and others say January 13, 1904 (Heifetz was 2 years old.) He was often called the "prince of the violin." He started studying the violin at age 4 (some say age 7) with Peter Stolyarsky, a popular teacher in Odessa (Russia) who also taught David Oistrakh around the same time. At age 10 (1914), he left studying with Stolyarsky and entered the Odessa Conservatory. By age 12, he had entered the St Petersburg Conservatory where Leopold Auer was teaching. His fellow students were Elman, Heifetz, Seidel, and Zimbalist, among many others. He studied with Auer until the summer of 1917 and had no additional instruction thereafter. He is said to have premiered the first concerto by Prokofiev in 1923 in Russia.  The concerto had already been played for the first time in Paris that same year.  In 1925, he left Russia to play a few concerts in Europe and never returned. In 1926, he studied with Eugene Ysaye (in Belgium) for a few weeks but later said he learned nothing from him - it was actually Ysaye who told him he had no need of any further lessons. In that same year, Milstein made his Paris debut. On October 17, 1929 (some sources say November 29, 1929) he made his American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra playing Glazunov's concerto and thereafter concertized non-stop until July, 1986. He is remembered for a very clean and precise technique and very appealing tone. He is also remembered for his Paganiniana - a dazzling arrangement of different tunes written by Nicolo Paganini. Between 1930 and 1986, he recorded most of the violin repertory. Of the Brahms concerto alone there are no fewer than five studio recordings available - each with a different orchestra. Although he made seven (studio) recordings of the Mendelssohn concerto, he didn't record the Sibelius or the Stravinsky concertos even once. Those works were probably not in his repertoire. There are also many superb videos of his playing on YouTube - all of them professionally produced. Milstein died in London on December 21, 1992, at age 88. (Of that era, only Ruggiero Ricci, Albert Markov, Zvi Zeitlin, David Nadien, Camilla Wicks, Ida Haendel, and Ivry Gitlis remain.)

Boris Goldstein

Boris Goldstein was a Russian violinist and teacher born on December 25, 1922 (Heifetz was 21 years old.) Today, he is largely forgotten. He was a child prodigy who studied with Peter Stolyarsky. He made his debut in Moscow at age 10 playing Mendessohn's concerto (e minor.) He was highly regarded by Kreisler, Heifetz, Menuhin, and Prokofiev. He received prizes at the 1935 Wieniawski and the 1937 Ysaye (Queen Elizabeth) competitions, though neither a first or second prize. It has been said that although he was a top violinist in Russia, he was too outspoken against the Communist government and his career was therefore stifled. He moved to Germany in 1974, where he taught at the University of Wuerzburg for many years. Two of his many students are Zakhar Bron and Alexander Skwortsow. He also toured Europe with his daughter Julia in the 1980s. While in Russia, he made many recordings for the Melodya label but they have never been re-issued. Lately, his fans have posted several videos of his on YouTube. He was truly a brilliant and serious artist. Goldstein died in Germany on November 8, 1987, at age 64.

David Oistrakh

David Oistrakh (David Fyodorovich Oistrakh) was a Russian (Ukrainian) violinist and teacher born on September 30, 1908 (Heifetz was 7 years old.) He progressed to the point of becoming a legendary Russian string player, in a class with Mstislav Rostropovitch, and Leonid Kogan. Oistrakh began studying violin at age 5 with Peter Stolyarsky. His first concert appearance took place in Odessa, his hometown, in 1914, at age 6. He shared that debut with Nathan Milstein who was 10 years old at the time. In 1923, Oistrakh entered the Odessa Conservatory and remained until 1926. He began concertizing soon thereafter. He married Tamara Rotareva in 1928 and had a son with her in 1931, Igor Oistrakh, who became a famous violinist, too. Oistrakh started teaching at the Moscow Conservatory in 1934. Among his many students was Gidon Kremer. In 1935, he came in second at the Wieniawski Competition – a 16-year-old Ginette Neveu came in first. In 1937, he came in first in the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels, Belgium. After that, his career became firmly established. He premiered many violin works by famous Russian composers – Prokofiev, Khachaturian, Shostakovich, and Miaskovsky, among others. It is said that he played the Tchaikovsky concerto to the end, on a winter day in 1942, despite the heavy bombardment (by the German air force) of downtown Stalingrad - where the music hall was located - during the concert. He did not actually appear in the West (as a concert artist) until 1949 (Helsinki, Finland.) His first tour of the U.S. came in 1955. He began venturing into conducting in the late fifties. Oistrakh died on October 24, 1974, in Amsterdam, at age 66. He had just finished conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra in a series of concerts. His discography is very extensive, though the sound quality of many of his recordings leaves a lot to be desired. There are many videos of his playing on YouTube and a fan page on MySpace as well.