Alexei Gorokhov

Aleksey Gorokhov
Aleksey Gorokhov in a promotional shot, circa. 1950
Background information
Born	(1927-02-11)February 11, 1927
Origin	Moscow, Russia
Died	(1999-02-03)February 3, 1999 (aged 71)
Genres	Classical
Occupation(s)	Violinist, Conductor, Professor
Instrument	Violin

Aleksey Nikolaevich Gorokhov (Russian: Алексей Николаевич Горохов; Ukrainian: Олексій Миколайович Горохов; February 11, 1927, Moscow - February 3, 1999) was a Soviet violinist who lived most of his professional life in Ukraine. He is considered a founder of the modern Kiev violin school.

Biography

Between 1934 and 1944 Aleksey Gorokhov studied at the Moscow Central Music School for Gifted Children. Later he entered Moscow Conservatory where he studied with Lev Tseitlin, graduating in 1949. In 1955 he finished Post-Graduate study under the instruction of Abram Yampolsky. In addition to his violin diploma he received a degree in Musicology.

In 1950 it was written a letter to the Central Committee of the Komsomol

"Letter to the Central Committee of the Komsomol with a protest against the alleged preferences for violin Jewish in musical educational institutions of Moscow 04.12.1950

Secretary of the Central Committee of the KOOMSM. N.A. MIKHAILOV For a long series of years, at international competitions of musicians-executives, the honor of Soviet art was defended by violinists, who can not be considered representatives of the great Russian people; this is: Leonid Kogan, Julian Sitkovetsky, Eduard Grach, Igor Oistrakh, Igor Bezrodny, Rafail Sobolevsky. Isn’t there a talented Russian youth? Of course there is. So what is the reason for the lack of Russian violinists? And here's what. The teaching staff of the violin department of the Moscow Conservatory has the following form: Russians – 3 people (D. Mikhail Tsyganov Kozopoupova, B. Kuznetsov); Armenians - 1 person (Gabrielyan); Jews - 10 people (Ceytlin, Oistrakh, Yampolsky, Pitkus, Yankelevich, Belenky, Bondarenko, Rabinovich, Mostras, Sibor). This composition of teachers has the appropriate composition of students, so, classes of the best specialists in the class of violin, professors D.F. Oistrakh and A.I. Yampolsky, almost entirely consists of Jews (so, prof. Oistrakh in the class three Russian students - Alexandrov, Kiselev and Kotova, and prof. Yampolsky one Russian student - Anton Sharoev). The dragging of violinist Jews is conducted from the first days of study: in the music school they are dragged at entrance exams; they, even during the years of study in music school, systematically perform at concerts-snights, have unique instruments from the collection, and Russian guys, looking at their successful comrades, begin to lose faith in their abilities, faith in themselves, and stop doing. And if, after all, one of the Russians is knocked out on the road and enters the conservatory at the end of the music school, then here he is hindered by all his strength, that is. and here he is systematically not allowed to perform concerts, he is not given a good instrument, he is artificially underestimated by assessments, create a reputation for a low-sated musician, then lazy, etc. And so, as a result of such a policy (and this is precisely the policy) from such a professor as A.I. Yampolsky, for more than 30 years of pedagogical work, graduated from the conservatory of more than 100 people working in the best theaters and philharmonics as soloists and concertmasters of orchestras; and among these people - only four Russians (Silanthiyev, Kharlamova, Shchepalin, Ivanitsky) and 1 Georgian (worker of the Tbilisi Conservatory), and all the others - Jews! That's the arithmetic! In the classes of professors of Oistrakh, Zeitlin, Mostras, Rabinovich, Sibor, associate professors Pitkus, Yankelevich - the same. These outrageous cases are known both in the Central Committee of the CPSU (B), and in the Central Committee of the Komsk. Therefore, in the summer of 1950, the Central Committee of the KomsKM actively intervened in the selection of young people for a trip to the competition in Prague. And at once everything got on the right path: if earlier persons were planned to participate in the competition at the direction of the professors of the department, this time the participants of the competition were scheduled by the GUZ of the Committee of Arts; if earlier the jury consisted of all the same professors of the department, now the jury was composed of persons of impartial. And so, as a result of these unconditionally correct measures, the violinists of Lubotsky, Besitskaya, Heafits, Beylin, Shulgin, Chutnnikov were eliminated, who were previously considered unat-aligned talents; Alexei Gorokhov and Anton Sharoev went to Prague and won the first two places in the International Competition. It would seem that the Committee of Arts and the Moscow Philharmonic would have to include these two violinists in concert programs, as it was in all previous cases. However, neither A. Gorokhov, not A. Sharoev is not included in any concert of the Philharmonic, while individual young performers (for example, Sobolevsky) are included in a number of concerts. The fact that the faces planning concerts do not notice the violinist Gorokhov and Sharoev is evidenced that these violinists do not want to notice. Who are these people who decide the fate of young performers? This is, first of all, the director of the philharmonic of Shirinsky and the head. Repertoiary of Yandrzhievskiy. Particular attention should be paid to the distribution of unique tools belonging to the state collection. In this collection there are more than a dozen “Stradivariuses”, as well as other valuable tools: “Gvarneri”, “Amati”, etc. Who has these “Stradivarius”? B. Wu S. Fishman Furera, B. Leonid Goldstein Mikhail Kogana Vladimir Fikhtengolts Pikaizen, I. Bezrodnoye, Kalinovsky, Beetle and others; the value of the individual of the listed violinists is very doubtative (for example, Fichtengoltz does not perform at all). Available in the collection "Gvarneri" distributed to the following persons: L. B. Gilels Moribel, Wyman, R. Sobolevsky, Latin. What tools are given A. Gorokhov and A. Sharoeva? They have Amaty. But not just “Amati”, but only the so-called “Amati Family”. The youth orchestra established in 1949, also deserves attention. For example, a group of violinists has the following form: The First Violins I. Reentovich – Gurfinkil II. Dubinsky – School III. Sibor - Sobolevsky IV. The Herac - Venbrine V. Barshai - Shulgin VI. Shadice – Schwartz Second Violin I. Zabolotny - Rozanova II. Kotova – Benir III. Gorokhov - Sharoev IV. Mutman - Morozov V. Glesin From the names, the composition of the violin groups is already clear: on the first violins there is not a single representative of the Russian people, and on the second violins, where there are 6 Russian guys, two - the winners of the International Competition sit on the third track! !!! The concertmaster of the youth orchestra consists of Reentovich, who could be ranked among young people ten years ago, but not now. Why in the orchestra, where the head is K.P. Kondrashin, so strangely solve personnel issues? Because his father is a cantonous and his mother is Jewish. Reentovich is his personal friend. It is difficult to show yourself to a young Russian violin in such a situation! They are not only not supported, not only do not help them, but, on the contrary, do not give them a move, in every way they interfere with them. The Central Committee of the U.S., which helped the Russian guys in 1950 to advance in the first ranks of Soviet performers, should help them in their future work, in their further growth and development. SHAROEV Member of the C.P.S.P.(B.) since 1943, party ticket No. 5238033 Phone (official): B-2-23-66 Comrade Sussu Sussu M.A. We consider it necessary to send you a letter. Sharoi. Secretary of the Central Committee of the VLKSM N. Mikhailov, December 13, 1950 It's important. Kruzhkov, Kiselev. Please be interested and make suggestions. M. Suslov, 13.12.50 WGAS SPI. Fyenny 17. Op. 132. D. 420. Leur 201–204. Copy." https://intoclassics.net/publ/5-1-0-316

Between 1949 and 1951 Gorokhov took part in several international violin competitions, among them the Bach Competition in 1950 where he received 2nd prize. At the Queen Elizabeth Competition in 1951 he was awarded 5th Prize. This followed by him touring extensively in the Soviet Union as well as in Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Romania, Portugal and Korea. In 1957 he became a professor of the violin at the Kiev Conservatory (later renamed Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music) and taught there until the end of his life.

Gorokhov lived a simple, humble life. One of the primary factors in his decision to move to Kiev in 1956 was a disinterest in the politics of his Russian homeland. This may partly explain why, apart from being declared an "Honored Artist Worker of Ukraine", he wasn't given a formal status in other countries.

Discography

• 2008: Spanish Violin by Aleksey Gorokhov
• 2008: Fritz Kreisler by Aleksey Gorokhov
• 2008: Niccolo Paganini by Aleksey Gorokhov

Notable works

During 50 years of his creative life Gorokhov recorded a great number of disks, being the first violinist in the Soviet Union to record all 6 violin concertos by Niccolo Paganini.

To Ukrainian Radio he left over 70 hours of recorded music, including Bach's Sonatas and Partitas, Paganini's 24 Caprices, 24 preludes by Shostakovich (Gorokhov's own arrangement), Violin Concertos by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and many other.

To mark Gorokhov's 70th Birthday he performed once again the 6 Paganini Concertos within 2 days. The Concertos were presented in an original orchestration by Gorokhov, which most completely embodied the criteria of Paganini's virtuoso-romantic aesthetics in orchestra. This arrangement is intended for a string orchestra with solo instruments besides the solo violin such as: guitar, viola and double bass, making Gorokhov's orchestration unique.

His recordings of the Concertos recorded with the Ukrainian National Opera Theatre Orchestra between 1973 and 1978, were digitally remastered and re-released in 2006.

Gorokhov's 1952 recording of Édouard Lalo's Spanish symphony with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kyrill Kondrashin is also notable.

Quotations about Gorokhov

Gorokhov's playing received high praise from a number of prominent musicians including Pierre Fournier, Jacques Thibaud, Joseph Szigeti, David Oistrakh and others.

"...The sound reminds one of the best time of Kreisler...the beauty of the 'piano' and 'pianissimo' is extraordinary..." - from Fournier's letter to Gorokhov.

"...Gorokhov's playing cast a spell on me..." - Jacques Thibaut.

"...There were very positive references...[made to] the nobility and tasteful playing of A. Gorokhov" - from 'A conversation with D. Oistrakh' in 'Novoye Vremia' magazine.

"...Listeners were struck...by the noble simplicity and modesty in conjunction with perfect playing skill, which was typical to A. Gorokhov..." - Alexander Svechnikov, 'Sovietskoye Iskustvo' magazine.

"...There are 2 great violin players whose sound is unmistakable and will stay in history - they are Kreisler and Gorokhov." - Abram Shtern.

Trivia

Aleksey Gorokhov has erroneously been referred to as 'Alexander Gorokhov' on a CD release by Yedang Entertainment, leading some websites and music vendors to list him under the wrong name.