Jascha Spivakovsky

Jascha Spivakovsky (18 August 1896 – 23 March 1970) was a Ukrainian-Australian piano virtuoso of the 20th century. He was hailed as a child prodigy in Odessa but almost murdered by Imperial Guards during the 1905 Pogrom. He fled to Berlin and was declared the heir of Anton Rubinstein and likened to Ignacy Paderewski and Teresa Carreño before being imprisoned as an Imperial Russian enemy alien during World War I. In the interwar period he became internationally recognized as one of the greatest pianists in the world and regarded in Europe as the finest living interpreter of Brahms. He also formed a trio which toured Europe with phenomenal success and was declared the finest in the world. Towards the beginning of 1933 he was warned by Richard Strauss in a musically-coded secret message that he had become a Nazi target due to his Jewish heritage. He fled to Australia a few days before the Nazi seizure of power and put his musical career on hold to help people escape the Third Reich. After World War II he returned to the stage and astounded the toughest of critics with the power, depth and maturity of his interpretations. Although his fame dimmed after he ceased touring because he had made no commercial (solo) studio recordings, his rediscovery was sparked in 2015 by the first releases of his live performances. These have caused considerable excitement among music lovers and prompted some experts to declare Spivakovsky one of the greatest pianists they have ever heard.