Arkatov, Salome Ramras

Russian pianist Josef Lhévinne (1874-1944) studied with Vasily Safonov at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating with the gold medal in 1892. He made his concert debut in 1889, and in 1898 married pianist Rosina Bessie, who had also graduated from the Moscow Conservatory with the gold medal. After teaching at the Moscow Conservatory from 1902 to 1906, Lhévinne resumed his concert career, living principally in Berlin. He made his New York début in 1906 with Safonov and the Russian Symphony Orchestra, and made six concert tours of the USA before the outbreak of World War I. The Lhévinnes moved to New York after the war, and in 1924 they joined the faculty of the newly established Juilliard Graduate School where Josef Lhévinne's pupils included Adele Marcus, Sascha Gorodnitzki, Brooks Smith and Homer Samuels. He is the author of the book Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing, published in 1924 and reprinted in 1972.

Rosina Lhévinne (1880-1976) managed her husband's solo career and performed with him as a duo pianist. After the death of Josef in 1944, Rosina concentrated on teaching until her death at the age of 96. Her students included John Browning, Van Cliburn, Misha Dichter, James Levine, Hiroko Nakamura, Kun Woo Paik, Daniel Pollack, Jeffrey Siegel, and John Williams. Her solo performing career, which she had postponed in order to assist her husband, resumed at age 75, and she made her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 82 under the direction of Leonard Bernstein, playing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor.