Name: Isaac

Surname: Stern



Isaac Stern (Kremenets', July 21, 1920 – New York, September 22, 2001) was an American violinist of Jewish origin. Isaac Stern was a great American violinist, as well as playing a guiding role for many young musicians, dedicating himself to the dissemination and recognition of the arts at a national and international level. Born in Kremenets, then Poland and now Ukraine, to Jewish parents, Stern left the country for the United States at ten months old, along with his parents who were fleeing the Soviet-Polish War to settle in San Francisco. After his first music lessons, given by his mother, in 1928 he enrolled at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied until 1931, when he began studying privately with Louis Persinger. In 1932 he returned to the San Francisco Conservatory to study with Naoum Blinder for five years. On 18 February 1936, at the age of 15, he made his debut playing the Concerto n. 3 by Camille Saint-Saëns with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Monteux. At the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1951 he performed a recital, in 1952 two concerts with the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra, in 1955 the Serenade (from Plato's "Convito") by Leonard Bernstein conducted by the composer with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Israel, in 1960 the Tchaikovsky Concerto, in 1961 a concert directed by Kyrill Kondrashin, in 1977 he performed Tchaikovsky's Concerto for violin and orchestra directed by Claudio Abbado, in 1979 a concert with the pianist David Golub of Schubert's music and the Concerto for violin and orchestra op. 64 by Mendelssohn, in 1982 a concert with music by Beethoven, in 1984 two concerts with the pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier, in 1991 a concert with Efim Naumovič Bronfman and in 1995 a concert with the Stern Quartet (Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo, Yo -Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax). At the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in 1952 he performed the Brahms Concerto, in 1954 the world premiere of the Serenade (from Plato's "Convito") by Leonard Bernstein conducted by the composer, in 1955 a symphony concert, in 1961 a concert with the pianist Alexander Zakin and in 1967 the Concerto n. 1 by Prokofiev. In 1956 he played in the world premiere of William Schuman's Concerto in Carnegie Hall in New York. In 1975 he played in the world premiere of George Rochberg's Concerto at Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh. In 1980 he participated in the "Gala of Stars" concert broadcast on TV for the Metropolitan Opera House in New York directed by James Levine. At the Grand Théâtre in Geneva in 1981 he held a recital, in 1984 a concert with the pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier and in 1987 a concert with Efim Naumovič Bronfman. In addition to being one of the greatest violinists of the century, Stern was the guide for several generations of musicians. Among his "discoveries" are the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and the violinists Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman. In 1987, Stern won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In his autobiography written with Chaim Potok, My First 79 Years, he cites Nathan Milstein and Arthur Grumiaux as those who most influenced his performance style. His marriage to dancer Nora Kaye lasted from 1948 until their divorce in 1949. In 1951 Isaac married Vera Lindenblit, with whom he had three children. In 1994, after 43 years, he divorced for the second time, to marry his third wife, Linda Reynolds, in 1997. Isaac Stern died on September 22, 2001 of a heart attack.

Autograph type: 5x3 card signed with dedication in black marker ink