Boris Goldstein
Quick Facts
Biography
Boris Goldstein (Busya Goldshtein) (25 of December 1922, Odessa - 8 of November 1987, Hanover, Germany) was a Soviet violinist whose career was greatly hindered by the political situation in the USSR. As a young prodigy, he started violin studies in Odessa with the eminent pedagogue, Pyotr Stolyarsky. As a teenager, Boris Goldstein, was singled out by Heifetz as being USSR's most brilliant violin talent.
He won the fourth prize of the 1935 Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Warsaw; Ginette Neveu from France came first, David Oistrakh second, and Josef Hassid from Poland received the honorary diploma.
In 1937, at one of the most prestigious international competitions of its time, the International Ysaye Competition, Stolyarsky students caused a sensation. Top prizes were won by David Oistrakh, Boris Goldshtein (Goldstein), Yelizaveta Gilels and Mikhail Fikhtengoltz. "The results of the sessions created a profound impression: the Soviet school, with an assurance that bordered on arrogance, carried off all the prizes from the first down. The latter was awarded without the slightest discussion to the great David Oistrakh. Everyone else had to be content with crumbs; the Belgian violin school, though still a source of pride, failed, and its absence at the final was much commented on; Arthur Grumiaux and Carlo Van Neste, both young and inexperienced, were not able to convince the jury."
Later he was forced to emigrate from Russia to Germany, he taught but his solo career never recovered.
The composer Mikhail Goldstein was his brother. Notable students of Boris Goldstein include Zakhar Bron and Alexander Skwortsow.