- Lubka Kolessa
Lubka Kolessa (*
19 May 1904 inLviv ,Ukraine -15 August 1997 inToronto ,Canada ) was a classical pianist and professor of piano.Life
Lubka Kolessa came from a very musical family with some composers and a
cellist fromLviv , at this time part of theAustrian Empire . Her uncleFilaret Kolessa was a noted musical ethnologist devoted to the research of Ukrainian popular music. Her cousinMykola Kolessa was a prominent Ukrainian composer and conductor.Her first lessons came from her grandmother, a pianist who had studied with a pupil of Chopin. In 1904 the family moved to
Vienna . Her father Oleksandr Kolessa (1867-1945) had been elected as a deputy in the Austrian Reichsrat, the parliament ofCisleithania Harald Binder: "Galizien in Wien: Parteien, Wahlen, Fraktionen und Abgeordnete im Übergang zur Massenpolitik. Wien: Verl. der Österr. Akad. der Wiss., 2005. ISBN 3-7001-3326-X.] .In Vienna she studied at the
Musikakademie Wien withLouis Thern andEmil von Sauer where she obtained her diploma in 1920 (16 years old). She played as a soloist with the best orchestras and conductors of Europe and soon had gained fame as a brilliant pianist.In 1928 she undertook a triumphal tour to her homeland, the at this time
Soviet Ukraine .Later in 1928 she recorded as the last classical pianist six pieces forWelte-Mignon (see media)Gerhard Dangel and Hans-W. Schmitz: "Welte-Mignon Klavierrollen - Welte-Mignon piano rolls: complete library of the European recordings 1904 - 1932 for the Welte-Mignon reproducing piano". Stuttgart 2006. ISBN 3-00-017110-X. p. 216 a. 464] . From 1929 – 1930 she studied again withEugen d’Albert who had a strong influence on her style.Kolessa went to England in 1937 where she married the British diplomat Tracy Philipps Encyclopédie de la musique au Canada. Online-Version [http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=Q1ARTQ0001870] retr. September 20 2007] . On May 21, 1937, Kolessa appeared on British
television , playing a concert while wearing a Ukrainian folk dress George Kehler: "The Piano in Concert". Metuchen, N. J. [et alii.] : The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-1469-2. p. 412.] .1938 she went on a very successful tour through South America. Until 1939 she played on the European continent too and recorded a number of records for
His Master's Voice in Germany.On the summit of her career as a concert pianist she moved 1940 to
Ottawa . She had numerous concerts including engagements with theNew York Philharmonic Orchestra .Since 1942 she taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, from 1955-1966 at theÉcole de Musique Vincent-d'Indy inMontreal , for twelve years at theMcGill University and 1959-1960 inNew York City at theUkrainian Music Institute as well as on theConservatoire de Musique et d'Art Dramatique de la Province de Quebec .She toured again in Southern- and Northern America and was one of the most searched pianist of the continent. In 1954 she ended her concert-activities to devote herself only to teaching.
Recordings
The Doremi label in 1999 released a set of three
compact discs (DHR-7743-5) reissuing Kolessa's commercial recordings and some radio broadcasts, private recordings, and unissued recordings from 1936-1949. Works included range from two sonatas byDomenico Scarlatti toBeethoven 's third piano concerto andBrahms 's Handel Variations.Sources
Media
Lubka Kolessa plays for
Welte-Mignon in 1928Frédéric Chopin : Mazurka No. 23 in D major Op. 33, 2 *Audio|KolessaChopin33 2.ogg|3627 kBPersondata
NAME=Kolessa, Lubka
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Philipps-Kolessa, Lubka
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Canadian-Ukrainian pianist
DATE OF BIRTH=19 May 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH=Lviv ,Ukraine
DATE OF DEATH=15 August 1997
PLACE OF DEATH=Toronto ,Canada
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