Anaida Sumbatyan

(1905 - 1986)

“My great Armenian teacher”
Vladimir Ashkenazy

There is no doubt that the initial years of a pianist’s training are decisive for his entire future destiny. This can be compared to planting a seed, which later grows into a huge tree. Even Arthur Rubinstein said that it is necessary to lay such a foundation from which the pianist will never fall.

Full devotion of energy and time, fanatical devotion to music and one’s profession, love for the student, and true mastery characterize the best teachers who teach at this stage. Anaida Sumbatyan was known not only in Moscow but also in other cities of the Soviet Union. In the walls of the «Central Music School of Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory», she brought up a whole galaxy of brilliant pianists, laureates of prestigious international competitions of the 50s — 70s.

Among her pupils were Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vladimir Krainev, Nelly Akopian-Tamarina, Sergey Musaelyan, Oxana Yablonskaya, Konstantin Orbelyan, Igor Bezrodny, Sergey Musaelyan, Dmitry Feofanov, Maxim Mogilevsky, Philip Koltsov, Elana Varvarova, and others.

Anaida Sumbatyan was born in 1905 in Rostov-on-Don in the family of an Armenian language and mathematics teacher. Soon the Sumbatyans settled in Tiflis (Tbilisi), where the future pianist spent her childhood and years of study. In 1923, she brilliantly graduated from the Tiflis (Tbilisi) Conservatory with the highest possible marks, and in 1925 she entered the Leningrad Conservatory in the class of an experienced musician Olga Kalantarova.

With a feeling of special gratitude, she remembers her teacher, Olga Kalantarova, calling her a «musician-artist», and «musician-worker», continuing and developing the traditions of the pianistic school of the famous pianist Anna Yesipova.

After graduating from the conservatory in 1930, she began teaching at the Yerevan State Conservatory. Despite the short teaching period (only one year), she left a bright memory in the hearts of her first students.

Strict, and principled, at the same time she maintained friendly relations with students, past and present, their families, and colleagues. By friendly ties Anaida Sumbatyan was associated with outstanding musicians: Sviatoslav Richter, especially with his wife, singer Nina Dorliak, Heinrich Neuhaus, and Daniil Shafran.

Yerevan State Conservatory Professor Ada Hakopyan, who for some time studied with Sumbatyan at the Central Music School in Moscow, recalled: “Somehow Mstislav Rostropovich came to our class. He was warmly welcomed by Anaida Sumbatyan. The reason for the visit was the desire of the famous musician to consult on the public performance he had planned with the orchestra of two Piano Concertos, BWV1053-1058 by Johann Sebastian Bach.

In September 1962, she arrived in Yerevan with her students. The concert of the students of Anaida Sumbatyan was in the Small Hall of Philharmonia. Students: Vladimir Krainev, Georgy Sirota, and Alexander Ter-Saakov, whose talent and high professionalism made a strong impression on the audience. She also came to Yerevan later. Anaida Sumbatyan said that Johann Sebastian Bach’s polyphony occupies a large place in the repertoire of her students, She considered it very important and useful in the musical education of students, and she emphasized that she likes to study works by Johann Sebastian Bach a lot and thoroughly.

Vladimir Ashkenazy and Dmitry Sakharov, being students of Anaida Sumbatyan, received the title of laureates of one of the most prestigious international competitions — the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1955. These were the first laureates of Anaida Sumbatyan. In subsequent years, new names of laureates appeared — students of Sumbatyan, who later, being students of Lev Oborin, Yakov Flier, and other renowned professors of the Moscow Conservatory, became winners of the then few, but most difficult international competitions in the field of the art world of the 50s — 70s in England, France, Germany, Russia, accessible only to the brightest and most deserving talents. Let’s name them: in Paris — Adrian Egorov, Oxana Yablonskaya, Zinaida Ignatyeva; in Leeds and Lisbon — Vladimir Krainev; in Zwickau — Nelly Akopian-Tamarina and others.

These talented musicians continued their musical activities not only at the Moscow Conservatory, but also in the largest higher musical institutions in England, Germany, the USA, and Russia.

Among them, special mention should be made of Vladimir Ashkenazy, the world’s greatest pianist and conductor. Back in the late 1950s, Vladimir Ashkenazy’s talent was appreciated by the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who presented him with a vinyl record with the inscription «To Volodya from Volodya».

He gave a lot of concerts, made recordings, and entered the circle of recognized concert musicians of the world. Living abroad, Vladimir Ashkenazy did not break the connection, as he wrote, “with my excellent Armenian teacher”, to whom, as he believed, he was indebted. As the Moscow musicologist, Andrei Zolotov notes, “In Moscow, Anaida Sumbatyan, an outstanding musician and teacher, showed her records and the latest photographs with love and pride to her guests, in whose class Volodya studied at the Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory, before becoming a student of this conservatory in class Lev Oborin».

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