Eliso Virsaladze Piano   

Eliso Virsaladze may not have name recognition of many of her keyboard contemporaries, but she is among the most highly respected performers of her generation, especially among fellow pianists, both past and present. Sviatoslav Richter, for example, touted her as the finest Schumann interpreter of her time. Besides Schumann, Virsaladze is well known for her Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Brahms, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev. She also regularly appears in chamber music concerts with such artists as Natalia Gutman and the Borodin Quartet. Since 1967 she has taught music, and among her students are Boris Berezovsky and Aleksandar Madzar. Virsaladze has made numerous recordings for such labels as Melodiya and EuroArts.

Eliso Virsaladze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1942. At eight she began pianos lessons with her grandmother, an exceptionally talented pianist and music teacher. Virsaladze's advanced studies were at the Tbilisi Conservatory, where her grandmother taught, and the Moscow Conservatory. Among her other notable teachers were Heinrich Neuhaus and Yakov Zak.

In 1962 Virsaladze entered the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and captured third prize. Four years later she won first prize at the 1966 Schumann International Competition in Zwickau, Germany.

Virsaladze began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory in 1967, becoming full professor in 1994. Gradually she built her concert career with regular tours across Europe, the U.S., South America, Japan, and Australia. She also appeared regularly in chamber music performances, though her collaborations with Natalia Gutman did not begin until the late '70s. Virsaladze also made frequent appearances at music festivals, including at the Moscow-based December Nights Festival, organized by Richter. Virsaladze's 1973 recording of the Schumann Second Sonata and 1980 recording of the First Sonata, on Melodiya, both drew critical acclaim, and she followed them with a spate of other recording successes. In 1989 Virsaladze was given the prestigious title of People's Artist of the U.S.S.R. In 1995 Virsaladze joined the faculty at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, a position she still holds along with her Moscow post.

In the new century, Virsaladze remained active on all fronts. Her 2003 appearance at the 300th anniversary Gala Concert in St. Petersburg, where she gave a scorching performance of the Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand, was issued on an acclaimed EuroArts DVD in 2004. Virsaladze regularly serves as a juror at important international piano competitions. Among them was the prestigious 2010 Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels.

© Robert Cummings, Rovi

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Elisso Virsaladze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and began her piano studies under her grandmother, the famous pianist and teacher Anastasia Virsaladze - both in private and at the Tbilisi School for Gifted Children - and graduated from the local conservatory. She then moved to Moscow, where she studied under the famed pianists Heinrich Neuhaus and Yakov Zak. Elisso's performance debut took place in Tbilisi at the age of 16, and her first competition award (Silver medal) came in 1959 at the World Youth Festival in Vienna; shortly thereafter she became a laureate at the Tchaikovsky Competition - which earned her considerable fame, given her young age. The culmination of her competition period came in 1966, when she won the Gold Medal at the Schumann Competition in Zwickau, Germany.

In subsequent years she has become a highly celebrated pianist, being named among "Russia's Great Modern Pianist" in Mark Zilberquit's 1983 book of the same name. She tours occasionally, though has resisted a "super-career", in part to accommodate her teaching demands - both at the Moscow Conservatory and at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich. She has released several CDs - much of which is featured here at the Classical Archives. Her repertoire includes work a broad range of composers, with her favorites including Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Prokofiev, and perhaps especially Schumann. There is little doubt that Elisso Virsaladze has become somewhat of a legend in her own day by virtue of her extraordinary performances, and we are delighted to feature her gifts here at the Classical Archives.

Reviews

"Elisso is an artist of the highest caliber, perhaps the most outstanding woman pianist of our time. She is a deeply sincere, serious and extremely modest musician. I am impressed by her in every way. Could you imagine a more beautiful Schumann than the one played tonight by Elisso? Since Neuhaus I haven't heard such a Schumann performance."

Sviatoslav Richter (1997)

Elisso Virsaladze
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