The pianist Nina Svetlanova, beloved by generations of students at the Manhattan School of Music and the Mannes College of Music, passed away today at her home in New York. She was 92.
She retired two years ago, with cancer. She is survived by her son Igor Lekhmus , daughter in law Bobby, three grandchildren, and a great grandchild.
This obituary has been prepared by Constantine Orbelian, Martin Labazevitch and Golda Vainberg-Tatz:
One of the last surviving pupils of the great Russian pianist and pedagogue Heinrich Neuhaus, Ms Svetlanova came to the United States in 1975, and quickly established her reputation as sought after teacher, first at the Mannes College of Music and soon after at the Manhattan School of Music, a post she held almost until the end of her life.
Before her immigration, she was associated with the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow as a vocal coach and then she toured the world with the renowned mezzo-soprano Zara Doloukhanova as a member of Moskonzert.
Her first husband was the legendary conductor, composer and pianist Yevgeny Svetlanov. Her second husband was Eduard Lekhmus, Estonian tenor and opera singer.
Generations of students came to New York, to learn exclusively from her. Many have illustrious careers as pianists, conductors, and educators all over the world.
Ms. Svetlanova’s love for music, poetry and dance has been a huge influence and inspiration to all her students. Her lifelong admiration for opera and her ability to recite by memory all operatic arias, especially those by Russian composers was unmatched. She will be greatly missed by her family, her students and legions of her admirers.
Her life story can by found here:
http://www.ninasvetlanova.com/MyStory/
In her own memoir Nina wrote: My first husband was celebrated conductor Evgeny Svetlanov then young, bright and very talented pianist. Together with him I discovered a great world of symphonic music and operas. We played through almost the entire symphonic and operatic repertoire. In addition, our duet became well known among young Soviet composers. We were constantly asked to play the new compositions for the Officials of the Ministry of Culture. This was the only way, in those years, for the young composers to get approval for publishing. Recently, I have been asked to write about Svetlanov the pianist. My memoirs can be found on the website dedicated to Svetlanov.
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