Shura Cherkassky in Odessa

This is a private film document of pianist Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995) visiting Odessa in Ukraine for the last time in 1995.
During that short visit, the pianist, considered as the last of the Romantics, searched for the concert hall where he gave his first recital as a child before he and his family fled the Revolution and found refuge in Baltimore.
Cherkassky visits the apartment where he was born, the Odessa Philarmonic Orchestra led by Hobart Earle, the Opera house, the musical school of Stoliarsky and wanders around his birth city with friends.
The movie starts at the Festival de Chopin in Nohant where Cherkassky performed in 1995.
Directed by JC Agid and Veronique Barbey (Twitter @jcagid)
From the New York Times:
"Shura Cherkassky was born in Odessa on Oct. 7, 1911. He was given his first piano lessons by his mother, and newspaper articles report extravagant early successes. He is said to have composed a five-act opera when he was 8, and to have conducted an orchestra in Odessa when he was 9, all in addition to giving frequent piano recitals and being hailed as a prodigy.
When he left for New York, at the age of 11, he already had a manager to look after his affairs. His hope was to study with Sergei Rachmaninoff, then his pianistic hero. But after an audition at Rachmaninoff's home on Riverside Drive, the young pianist decided to look elsewhere.
(...) Yet he was a completely commanding figure on the concert stage. His performances of standard repertory works by Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky and Liszt were invariably packed with idiosyncratic twists and turns that made his readings incendiary, and when he played virtuosic Strauss waltz transcriptions by Godowsky and Schulz-Evler, or essays in tone color by Balakirev or Hofmann, he could create the impression that he possessed more than two hands."
by Allan Kozinn in New York Times - 1995
www.nytimes.com/1995/12/29/art...

[@yuliyachilders7266]

Старушка в сиреневой косынке на 3:29 моей мамы тетка Женя. Мы жили на Б. Арнаутской 24, за углом от Аптеки, над которой жил Шура.

[@jcagid37east41]

Это так замечательно знать, что ты прекрасная тетя. Шура Черкасский был так счастлив в тот день, когда вырос в детстве. Быть в вашем городе и друзьях - такая уникальная память. (через перевод Google)

[@user-vq3ms9rr9c]

Спасибо! Я открыла для себя потрясающего пианиста.Он раскрывает саму суть слова "игра".

[@jcagid37east41]

I am glad you liked this wonderful pianist

[@Jvesit]

hola a todos los amantes de la musica clasica, recuerdo que Shura vino a Mallorca a la cartuja de valldemossa y dio un concierto, los pianistas suelen tocar una o dos canciones extras, pero el toco cinco, cinco canciones extras, en mi vida habia escuchado tocar el piano tan bien como el, creo que ya nos dejo ese gran pianista, lo mejor de mundo, gracias por haber venido a Mallorca a tocar, muchas gracias Shura Sherkasky.

[@kaleidoscopio5]

What a bizarre, funny character. You can't find a person like him 😀

[@josephfranceski1041]

Simple to state: I loved Cherkassky; and loved going to every concert he gave in New York in the 80s and early 90s; and met him back stage many times, especially at the 92nd Street Y which as a great musical venue.

[@jcagid37east41]

Thank you @JosephFranceski for your kind comment. Yes, he was such an exceptional performer.

[@schnabelite]

The Great SC !! This is soooo cute. Everything is sooo cute. His accent is so cute

[@svenandersson2210]

Thank you for sharing this video. It made me very happy since Shura was a friend of mine. But there are two wrong facts in the texts above. Shura was in fact born in 1909 and he moved to Baltimore from Europe. Later he moved to Philadelphia to study with Josef Hofmann. As a young boy in Baltimore he was a friend of Larry Adler. I remember when Shura introduced me to Larry Adler in London 1982 Mr Adler told me that he studied piano as a child, but when he heard Shura play the piano he changed to mouth organ. Haha!😀

[@jcagid37east41]

Thank Sven for sharing some of your memories with Shura - and for getting a few facts right.

[@kenmoto7072]

素晴らしいフィルム公開どうもありがとうございます。感動しました、最後まで見事な活躍していたのですね　　　21世紀になってからも素晴らしい技術のピアニストはいます、でも　誰もが　みんな同じ　になってしまった・・名人　はもういませんチェルカスキー、最後の名人　です

[@jcagid37east41]

Thank you @KenMoto for such a kind comment on the film.

[@chrisczajasager]

the bABUSCHKA...FABULOUS.wELL...oDESSA THE CRADLE OF SO MANY GREAT PERFORMERS, NU?

[@pghagen]

Now, in 2022, I watched this documentary again. What a great document this still is. We see Odessa in an other and better time. It's good Shura went to visit the City where he was born before he died in the same year. This document shows us how musically gifted the people were! The women pianist played very good en I loved to see the children dancing on a Viennese Walz. Shura trying out a piano and finally gave a short recital.Let's hope it will be prevented this great City will be destroyed by this crazy war...

[@jcagid37east41]

Thank you, and I agree. This document shows a world of peace and music. I also wrote an article about it and interviewed the music conductor of the Odessa Philharmonic.

[@jcagid37east41]

thirtyseveneast.com/2022/03/06/the-odessa-tear/

[@jcagid37east41]

thirtyseveneast.com/2022/03/27/the-silent-odessa-symphony/

[@laslasman564]

Great musical traditions....classic music is hard, skilled work ...people spend lifetimes honing skills to perfection..producing beautiful tone....Russia too a great tradition too...why brothers fight over territory is unreal...I pray everyday that these nations produce their peace...🎵👍

[@chrisczajasager]

WHAT WONDERFUL STYLISH DANCING FROM THE YOUNG PEOPLE! tHAT HAS VANISHED IN THE 'wEST'................

[@vova47]

Great video, in a moment like this one is so grateful for Internet and KZbin!..... Shura in a great spirit visiting his birthplace, a special treat to see a rare performance of Ludmila Naumovna Ginzburg, a Neuhaus pupil and contemporary of Richter and Gilels. Thanks so much for sharing this!

[@tishhill9561]

vova47 My God!!! What a privilege to hear her!!!! Thank you❤️

[@LaurentCabassoPianist]

merveilleux film....

[@jcagid37east41]

Merci @LaurentCabasso pour votre commentaire.

[@pghagen]

Amazing Video! Thanks for sharing; Shura is still very vital here, whereas it was the year of his death. I went to his last concert in Amsterdam Oct 1995, and then he looked very pale and weak. I knew at that moment i would not hear him again. After Amsterdam he still gave many concerts, and even (beiing 86!) played Rach.3 in Prague wit Czech Philharmonic while he was very ill already. He died in Royal Brompton Hospital on Dec.27th

[@jcagid37east41]

Many thanks for this nice comment @pghagen. How much do I wish we had better equipment, knowledge, sound etc.... yet it is as authentic as it can be.

[@user-xs8hu4lz4n]

К сожалению в фильм не попал сюжет, снятый в консерватории - встреча Шуры Черкасского и Людмилы Наумовны Гинзбург. Но важно другое - как воспринял Шура игру Людмилы Наумовны, рассказывая с восторгом своим коллегам и друзьям ( в частности Марте Аргерих, по письму С.Л.Могилевской) о ее таланте!

[@jcagid37east41]

I agree with you.... And I thank you for reminding us of this conversation between Shura and Ludmila Ginsburg.

[@esfirross6800]

Thank you to making this movie. First time I hear what a wonderful pianist Ludmila Ginzburg was. She used to bring her student to Kishinev. Great to see Shura in his birth town.

[@azdeneden9005]

Than you very much for uploading.

[@veroniquebarbey108]

Quelle emotion de voir Shura sur KZbin!

[@PeterLunowPL]

god ,what a lovely man and what a great artist he was

[@jcagid37east41]

I so much agree with you. Thank you Peter for watching and commenting.

[@PeterLunowPL]

Thank you for sharing this moving documentary!

[@bestpianist1]

Who is the old dame playing so marvelously?

[@jcagid37east41]

JC AGID 37EAST 5 years ago Ludmila Ginsburg

[@skli2]

Спасибо. И Хобарт Эрл такой молодой))

[@jcagid37east41]

Young and Talented!

[@archiandr2]

Но как играет Людмила Наумовна!!!!!!!!!

[@elliottbodie7448]

i realize it's kind of off topic but do anyone know a good place to stream newly released movies online?

[@maverickgavin9489]

@Elliott Bodie Try flixzone. Just search on google for it =)

[@alanlennon3871]

@Maverick Gavin Yea, been watching on FlixZone for months myself =)

[@stephenbrian4591]

@Maverick Gavin Thank you, signed up and it seems like a nice service :D I really appreciate it !!

[@harveydeclan8538]

@Maverick Gavin thanks, signed up and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :D I really appreciate it!!

[@user-ik3xw1qy7l]

Видел Шуру в Ленинграде . В начале сем десятых

[@DanielRobertspiano]

What is the piece he plays at the end of the video. just before the credits?

[@kaleidoscopio5]

Daniel Roberts it's a piece by Mana- Zucca, a friend of Cherkassky. Zoaves drill, or something like that, is the title of the piece. There are others videos of this piece.

[@PianistsAndMore]

Who is the woman playing the Strauss transcription ca. 14 minutes in?

[@meredith218461]

I also wondered that, I also wondered when her piano was last tuned.

[@jcagid37east41]

Ludmila Ginsburg

[@janicezany]

Maria Grinberg?

[@MrEshikVic]

Мария Гринберг умерла в 1978 году!

[@christopherczajasager9030]

Quite a pianist 😅!

[@christopherczajasager9030]

Did you notice he drank mineral water😅😮he was very fearful of any alcohol....his great teacher destroyed by iy...

[@culturehorse]

Ukraine. Was a civilized modern state that the west could not keeps its meddling free of.

[@kaleidoscopio5]

Or Russia...

[@christopherczajasager9030]

Indeed..then....a jewel of R u s s I a n culture....pre CIA-Nuland-Kolomoisky...Zelensky destruction 😢

[@christopherczajasager9030]

God....how beautiful the young children dancing😅

[@user-ld1wq2rf7h]

Неуважение к МЭТРУ!!!невозможно слушать такой убогий РОЯЛЬ!