Yaltah Menuhin
| Yaltah Menuhin | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
7 October 1921 San Francisco, California, United States |
| Died | 9 June 2001 (aged 79) |
| Parent(s) |
Moshe Menuhin Marutha Menuhin (née Sher) |
Yaltah Menuhin (7 October 1921 – 9 June 2001) was an American-born British pianist, artist and poet.
Yaltah was born in San Francisco, the youngest of three extraordinarily musically gifted children. Her siblings were Yehudi Menuhin and Hephzibah Menuhin. Through her father Moshe Menuhin, a former rabbinical student and anti-Zionist writer, Menuhin was descended from a distinguished rabbinical dynasty. Yaltah was named after her mother, Marutha's, home town of Yalta in Crimea. At the age of three, she became part of the rigorous regime already imposed on her siblings: the family employed tutors for the children, and Yaltah had her first piano lessons from the wife of the tutor in harmony and counterpoint.
She was taken to Paris at the age of four when Yehudi and Hephzibah went to study there. Marcel Ciampi, engaged to teach Hephzibah, initially refused to entertain the notion of teaching Yaltah at such a young age. However, Yaltah so impressed him with her spontaneous rendition of Schumann's Kinderszenen that he remarked, "Mrs. Menuhin's womb is a veritable conservatory," and agreed to take her on as well. Her taking piano lessons did not mean that her parents considered her - or for that matter, Hephzibah - capable of pursuing a career in music: Yaltah's mother in particular was firmly opposed to the idea that her daughters would follow in Yehudi's footsteps. Apart from Ciampi, she studied with Rudolf Serkin in Basel, Armando Silvestri in Rome and Carl Friedberg in New York.
One of Yaltah's earliest orchestral appearances was with Pierre Monteux and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, playing Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. Over the years Yaltah performed a wide repertoire. She played a pivotal role in the careers of numerous young composers, particularly during her stay in Los Angeles in the 1950s. She had a great love of chamber music and performed the sonata literature of the violin, viola and cello, as well as works for larger groups. Yaltah gave many first performances of works by Erich Zeisl, George Antheil, Ernst Krenek, Frank Martin, Louis Gruenberg, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Walter Piston. She recorded for Everest, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, SPA, Music Library and EMI-World Record Club.
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