VVCD-00092
ADD 74 .22

Rosa Tamarkina, piano (1920-1950)
Volume 1

Sergei Rachmaninov
Piano concerto No2 c-moll, ор.18
1 Moderato 9.51
2 Adagio sostenuto 10.05
3 Allegro scherzando 10.56

Sergei Taneyev
Quintet for piano, two violins, viola and cello g-moll, op.30
4 Introduzione. Adagio mesto. Allegro patetico 18.53
5 Scherzo. Presto. Moderato teneramente 6.12
6 Largo 9.32
7 Finale. Allegro vivace. Moderato maestoso 9.09

Total: 74.24

State Symphony orchestra. Nikolai Anosov, conductor (1-3)
Bolshoi Theatre Quartet (4-7)

Recorded: 1946 (4-7); 26.05.1948 live from the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire (1-3)
Restoration: Vista Vera, 2005

Rosa Tamarkina was born in 1920 in Kiev. She began learning music in a children's section of the Kiev Conservatoire under N. M. Goldenberg. In 1932, she was admitted to the Moscow Conservatoire's special section for exceptionally gifted children -- 8 boys and girls from all over the Soviet Union. Rosa joined the piano class of Prof. A. B. Goldenweiser who wrote later: "Teaching Rosa was a great pleasure. She was learning easy and fast. She caught my instructions quick and she did not execute them in a mechanical way, but rather implemented them via her well-disciplined artistic individuality".
In 1936, the 16-year-old Rosa Tamarkina played at a selective audition for the 3rd Chopin International Competition in Warsaw and, together with the then well-known and experienced pianists Maria Grinberg, Yakov Zak and Tatyana Goldfarb, was included in the Soviet team.
The contest was held in 1937. The delegation from the Soviet Union got an unfavorable reception in Poland, as the Moscow train was directed to the regional arrivals platform, whereas the Nazi German contestants were welcomed at the city's Central Station. However, the Soviet musicians won: Yakov Zak captured the first prize and the 17-year-old Tamarkina was awarded the second prize. International jury member Genrikh Neuhaus wrote: "Rosa Tamarkina made a real sensation at the competition - and not merely because of her age. Despite her young age, she is beyond doubt a perfectly matured, perfectly conscious pianist. Backhaus shouted to me: "This is marvelous!" Levi claimed he had never heard anything like this before".
At the time, when the USSR was trying to show all the world its leadership in each and every realm, the popularity of the laureates of the international competition was immense in their country. They were met with grand salutation at Moscow's Byelorussian Station, their pictures were featured in all Soviet newspapers, and their portraits were carried high during official marches in the Red Square… Rosa was made a deputy of the Moscow City Soviet, awarded the Мedal of Honor, and allowed to perform extensively in Moscow and all over the country. She graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire cum laude, and her name was engraved in gold on the Conservatoire's marble Board of Honor.
In 1941, Rosa continued her studies as a post-graduate student with Prof. Goldenweiser and later with Konstantin Igumnov.
Her reputation as a pianist was growing fast; her every performance was a great success, and music critics described her as one of the most outstanding musicians of the modern times. However, the budding pianist was not destined to see her shining future. At the age of 26 Rosa was diagnosed cancer.
She got treatment at the Rentgenology Institute in Moscow, but she gained only four more years of life full of physical suffering and, at the same time, enthusiastic performances. Rosa Tamarkina died on the 5th of August, 1950. The recordings she made at the age of 24 to 28, strike our ear with mastery of phrasing and sound as well as the remarkable touches, magnificent technique, and the beautiful pedal skills.
The Soviet piano school had gained and too early lost the superior performer of the 20th century.
Oleg Chernikov
_________________________________________________

Translated by Oleg Alyakrinsky