Lev Steinberg


Lev Petrovich Steinberg was an influential Russian conductor and composer.

Life

Steinberg was born on 15 September 1870 in Yekaterinoslav. He studied piano with Anton Rubinstein and Karel van Ark, composition theory with Nikolai Solovyov, and theory with Anatoly Lyadov. In 1893 he graduated from the Saint [Petersburg Conservatory]. Steinberg made his debut as a conductor in 1892, during the summer symphony concerts in Druskininkai.
In 1899, he conducted operas at the Kononov Hall and the Mariinsky Theater, Saint Petersburg. He worked as a symphonic and opera conductor in theaters in Moscow, Saratov, Kharkov, Kiev and other cities. Steinberg performed in Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet russes, invited by Diaghilev in 1914. Later the conductor performed in Bern, Dresden, Leipzig, and Berlin.
After the revolution, he worked in the theaters of Kiev in 1917–1924, at the Ukrainian State Capital Opera in 1924–1926, at the Sverdlovsk State Opera House named after Anatoly Lunacharsky in 1926–1928, and in Baku. The conductor participated in the organization of theaters and philharmonic societies in Kiev and Odessa.
From 1928 Steinberg lived in Moscow. He was conductor of the Bolshoi Theater and artistic director of the symphony orchestra of the Central House of the Red Army. Among the recordings he made was the first full version of Rimsky-Korsakov's [The Tsar's Bride |The Tsar's Bride]. He was a professor and taught conducting at the Moscow Conservatory. Steinberg took charge of the newly-founded Moscow State Symphony Orchestra in 1943 and directed it until his death.
He died on 16 January 1945 in Moscow and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Compositions