Leonid Kogan
62 videos • 2,091 views • by Sebastián Rodríguez González Leonid Kogan, (born Nov. 14, 1924, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, Soviet Union — died Dec. 17, 1982, onboard the train, at the Mytishchi railroad station, during his trip from Moscow to Jaroslaw.), was an outstanding Soviet violinist and pedagogue, was married to the laureate Soviet violinist, Elizabeth Gilels, father of Pavel and Nina Kogan. At six, he began lessons with Philip Yampolsky, a pupil of Leopold Auer. Later in Moscow when he was ten, began studies with Abram Yampolsky, another Auer disciple. Kogan progressed through the Central School of Music, then the Moscow Conservatory, where he trained from 1943 to 1948. Postgraduate studies at the conservatory occupied him from 1948 until 1951. In 1951, he won first prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Kogan made his first appearances in Paris and London in 1955, following those with a tour of South America in 1956, and made an auspicious American debut playing the Brahms Violin Concerto with Monteux and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Jan. 10, 1958. His playing exemplified the finest qualities of the Russian School: an emotionally romantic elan and melodious filigree of technical detail. In addition to the standard repertoire, in which he excelled, he also played modern violin works, particularly those by Soviet composers.