Pierre Luboshutz

Pierre Luboshutz (June 17, 1891 - April 17, 1971) was a Russian concert pianist.

Born in Odessa, Russia, Luboshutz was initially taught to play the violin by his father. However, he then took up the piano, and followed his older sisters Lea Luboshutz (violin) and Anna Luboshutz (cello) to the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied under Konstantin Igumnov, and from which he graduated in 1912 receiving a silver medal. His first professional performance, at the Conservatory, was a performance of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky. Luboshutz later traveled to Paris to study under Édouard Risler.

Even before his graduation, Luboshutz had joined his two sisters in the eponymous Luboshutz Trio. The group enjoyed tremendous success until the Russian Revolution resulted in Lea's leaving the country. At its most active period (1913-1914), the group toured to fifty cities in Russia during a five-month period. Luboshutz also regularly accompanied the American dancer Isadora Duncan when she toured the country and was a regular pianist at a school she established in Moscow. As a much sought after accompanist, he toured the United States beginning in 1926 with violinists Efrem Zimbalist and Paul Kochanski, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, and double bass virtuoso Serge Koussevitsky.

Luboshutz left the Soviet Union permanently in 1925, joining his sister Lea Luboshutz in Paris (sister Anna Luboshutz remained in Russia for her entire life), often serving as her accompanist. He also taught at the Paris Conservatory where he met his future wife, pianist Genia Nemenoff. The two eventually married in the United States in 1931 (both had come for separate concert tours) and they decided to settle in New York City in close proximity to sister Lea Luboshutz, now teaching at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

On January 18, 1937, they debuted a two‐piano concert tour under the name Luboshutz-Nemenoff, with their first performance taking place at The Town Hall in New York City. The pair became "highly acclaimed as duo pianists", and at different points in their career received excellent reviews from critics Howard Taubman and Noel Straus. They "toured widely in the Western hemisphere and Europe and South Africa," and performed at the Tanglewood Music Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and at Robin Hood Dell with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1956, they were joined by Luboshutz's nephew by his sister Lea, Boris Goldovsky, for a five-week tour highlighting concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for one, two, and three pianos, as part of the bicentennial of Mozart's birth. They reprised the collaboration two years later featuring keyboard music of J.S. Bach.

Lubozhutz & Nemenoff was the only duo-piano team to appear in concert with Arturo Toscanini. During their career, they premiered numerous works including a two-piano concerto by Bohuslav Martinu, with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on November 5, 1943. Luboshutz transcribed many works for two pianos and commissioned others including a suite from the ballet "On Stage" by Norman Dello Joio.

The duo "began to curtail their performing career in the early 1960s", accepting teaching positions at the New England Conservatory of Music and in the piano department of Michigan State University, which they headed from 1962 to 1968. The couple then returned to New York City, and lived between there and Rockport, Maine.

Luboshutz died in Rockport, at the age of 76. He was survived by his wife, who died in 1989.

Birth and Death Data: Born June 17, 1891 (Odessa), Died April 17, 1971 (Rockport)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1927 - 1941

Roles Represented in DAHR: piano, arranger

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BVE-42992 10-in. 9/26/1928 Concerto in F minor : Andante Serge Koussevitzky Bass solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BVE-42993 10-in. 9/26/1928 Concerto in F minor : Andante Serge Koussevitzky Bass solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor CVE-42996 12-in. 9/27/1928 Sonata : Largo Serge Koussevitzky Bass solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BVE-42997 10-in. 9/27/1928 Wiegenlied, op. 28, no. 5 Serge Koussevitzky Bass solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BVE-42998 10-in. 9/27/1928 Minuet in G Serge Koussevitzky Bass solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor CVE-42999 12-in. 9/27/1928 Chanson triste, op. 2 Serge Koussevitzky Bass solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BVE-46178 10-in. 9/27/1928 Valse miniature, op. 1, no. 2 Serge Koussevitzky Bass solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor CVE-47897 12-in. 11/8/1928 Etude in E major Nina Koshetz Soprano vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor CVE-47898 12-in. 11/8/1928 Berceuse Nina Koshetz Soprano vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor CVE-47899 12-in. 11/8/1928 Plaisir d'amour Nina Koshetz Soprano vocal solo, with instrumental quartet instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BVE-56754 10-in. 10/7/1929 Le secret Robert Hewit Male soprano vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BVE-56755 10-in. 10/7/1929 The soldier's bride Robert Hewit Male soprano vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor CVE-59737 12-in. 4/4/1930 Etude in E major Nina Koshetz ; Pierre Leboshutz Soprano vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BVE-59786 10-in. 5/12/1930 None but the lonely heart Hulda Lashanska Female vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BVE-59787 10-in. 5/12/1930 Rest thee, my spirit Hulda Lashanska Female vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-042688 10-in. 9/15/1939 Coronation scene Pierre Luboshutz ; Genia Nemenoff Piano duet instrumentalist, piano, arranger  
Victor BS-042689 10-in. 9/15/1939 Orientale Pierre Luboshutz ; Genia Nemenoff Piano duet instrumentalist, piano, arranger  
Victor BS-042695 10-in. 9/15/1939 Russian dance Pierre Luboshutz ; Genia Nemenoff Piano duet instrumentalist, piano, arranger  
Victor BS-047023 10-in. 2/8/1940 Valse Tzigane Pierre Luboshutz ; Genia Nemenoff Piano duet instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-062730 10-in. 3/3/1941 Ritual fire dance Pierre Luboshutz ; Genia Nemenoff Piano duet instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BVE-Test-1001 10-in. 4/29/1930 Jota Paweł Kochański Violin solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BVE-Test-1002 10-in. 4/29/1930 Flight Paweł Kochański Violin solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia W143684 10-in. 3/18/1927 Little boy blue Maria Kurenko Soprano vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia W143685 10-in. 3/18/1927 Dear little boy of mine Maria Kurenko Soprano vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia W143686 10-in. 3/18/1927 Wiegenlied Maria Kurenko Soprano vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Luboshutz, Pierre," accessed April 16, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106005.

Luboshutz, Pierre. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 16, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106005.

"Luboshutz, Pierre." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 16 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106005

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