© Protected - Classical Music in Poland and the Europe of Chopin - Reviewer's Notebook

The word 'dynasty' is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as 'a series of rulers or leaders who are all from the same family'. The concert this evening, 'Lions of the Piano' , was absolutely unique in depicting a 'dynasty' of the Russian School of pianism. Perhaps this was not a family in any biological sense but certainly from the same 'family' of performers and interpreters. Lev Oborin (1907-1974) The pater familias was the great Russian pianist Lev Oborin (1907-1974) who won the First Prize in the 1st International Fryderyk Chopin Competition in January 1927 (and in addition a valuable and rare silk rug from the Galician town of Buczacz - Buchach - those were the days!).   My knowledge of this pianist comes mainly from the incomparable recordings of the Oistrakh Trio, a musical collaboration between Lev Oborin, David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Knushevitzky that lasted from 1941 until 1963. Their recording of the Chopin Trio Op.8 is argu...