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We got into the music school very simply. Abram sang in the choir of the Opera and the leader of the choir once asked him, 'Abram, do you have any brothers or sisters?' He said, 'Yes, I have sisters.' The teachers said, 'Why don't you bring them here?' So, we came and were tested and admitted. All of us, even Nadya who couldn't walk very well yet. I was her tutor. I always held her by the hand. We were taken by different teachers: Abram was taken by Rabinovich, Vera and I were taken by Zovitskaya, and Nadya was taken by Israilevich. But Nadya couldn't be taught music. She had a musical ear, just like Vera and Abram. And she never wanted to play from music. Everything she played, she played by ear. So, she finally ran away and didn't go to music school any more. She was a wonderful musician. Finally, she went to work as a sound technician at a film studio.
My ear was a little worse. As Abram's teacher Rabinovich said, if I had been alone, without Vera, Nadya and Abram, I would be outstanding. But I went to music school almost every day, because we didn't only have piano lessons - we also studied history and listened to music. We had wonderful teachers: Pelman, Razumovskaya, Yavorsky, Beregovsky. Yavorsky came to teach us occasionally, Balchevsky-Balch, Bertye. My teacher, Zovitskaya, was outstanding.
There were a lot of concerts. At the park where symphonic concerts were given tickets were very expensive. So, Steinberg, who was very kind and loved children, issued us a ticket for 20 people! He once met us when we came to the rehearsal, talked to us, saw that we understood and felt music; he also listened to some of us playing (the best ones, of course, not me). So, he saw that we lived with music and supported us. That's why he issued us a ticket for 20 people and said, 'Please, come, even though it's bad for you to walk late at night, still please come.'
Once my friends and I couldn't get in to a concert. But we still wanted to go very much. So, I climbed through some fences and dirt, but I was caught by the guards. I said, 'Steinberg invited me!' Of course they didn't believe me. But suddenly Steinberg was walking up to us. The guards said, 'Listen, this girl claims that you've invited her. Tell her to stop lying!' And he said, 'Oh, of course she's invited!' And I was allowed in to the concert. He liked everybody who loved music so much. Later I met him in Moscow. He lived in the dormitory of the Conservatory. He recognized me and invited me to visit him. He was a very, very good man.
My ear was a little worse. As Abram's teacher Rabinovich said, if I had been alone, without Vera, Nadya and Abram, I would be outstanding. But I went to music school almost every day, because we didn't only have piano lessons - we also studied history and listened to music. We had wonderful teachers: Pelman, Razumovskaya, Yavorsky, Beregovsky. Yavorsky came to teach us occasionally, Balchevsky-Balch, Bertye. My teacher, Zovitskaya, was outstanding.
There were a lot of concerts. At the park where symphonic concerts were given tickets were very expensive. So, Steinberg, who was very kind and loved children, issued us a ticket for 20 people! He once met us when we came to the rehearsal, talked to us, saw that we understood and felt music; he also listened to some of us playing (the best ones, of course, not me). So, he saw that we lived with music and supported us. That's why he issued us a ticket for 20 people and said, 'Please, come, even though it's bad for you to walk late at night, still please come.'
Once my friends and I couldn't get in to a concert. But we still wanted to go very much. So, I climbed through some fences and dirt, but I was caught by the guards. I said, 'Steinberg invited me!' Of course they didn't believe me. But suddenly Steinberg was walking up to us. The guards said, 'Listen, this girl claims that you've invited her. Tell her to stop lying!' And he said, 'Oh, of course she's invited!' And I was allowed in to the concert. He liked everybody who loved music so much. Later I met him in Moscow. He lived in the dormitory of the Conservatory. He recognized me and invited me to visit him. He was a very, very good man.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
lubov ratmanskaya