Victor Karpovich Merzhanov has died on December 15th in Moscow. Victor Karpovich Merzhanov was born August 15, 1919 in Tambov, Russia. He studied at Tambov Musical College with Solomon Starikov and Alexander Poltoratsky. From 1936 to 1941 he studied at the Moscow Conservatory in the classes of Samuel Feinberg (piano) and Alexander Goedicke (organ). On June 24, 1941, he graduated with distinction in both instruments to be immediately sent for military training as a tank driver. While already in the army, he learned through a letter from his former professor that Conservatoire authorities had his name engraved on the marble plate which lists the Conservatoire’s best graduates (along with those of Scriabin and Sergei Rachmaninov). Merzhanov spent the entire World War II as a soldier in the Red Army. In 1945, he exchanged his uniform for a tuxedo and entered the Third All-Soviet Music Performance Competition in Moscow, where he was awarded 1st Prize (shared with Sviatoslav Richter).
In 1945 Victor Merzhanov became assistant to Samuel Feinberg at the Moscow Conservatoire, a post he held for three years. Meanwhile in 1946, he began teaching at the Conservatoire, an activity which he continues to this day. In 1949 he won the 10th Prize at the 4th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Merzhanov has dedicated his entire artistic career to performance and teaching. Merzhanov has been a Professor at the Moscow Conservatory since 1947. Among his students are prize-winners of international competitions: Victor Bunin, Vladimir Bunin, Nazzareno Carusi, Yuri Didenko, Igor Girfanov, Hideyo Harada, Irina Khovanskaya, Anahit Nersesyan, Mikhail Olenev, Tatiana Shebanova, Yuri Slesarev, Ruslan Sviridov, Lambis Vassiliadis, Oleg Volkov, Anna Yarovaya, Irina Zahharenkova and many others.
Since 1946, Victor Merzhanov has been a soloist at the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra; performing in the Soviet Union and abroad. His repertoire is broad, including works of various styles and genres. Merzhanov’s style is based on his wonderful virtuoso technique and in-born musicality. Among his notable achievements are his interpretations of Chopin’s 24 Preludes, Johannes Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Franz Liszt’s 6 Études d’exécution transcendante d’après Paganini, Scriabin’s Sonata No. 5, Schumann’s Carnival, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. From the start of his career Merzhanov championed Contemporary classical music and was chosen by Prokofiev to give the first performance of his Sixth Sonata. During his 60-year stage career, Victor Merzhanov gave more than 2,000 recitals and concerts in Russia, Europe, USA, China, and other countries, with such conductors as Lorin Maazel, Kurt Sanderling, Kirill Kondrashin, Nikolai Anosov, Aleksandr Gauk, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Yuri Temirkanov and Evgeny Svetlanov. In 1971 at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, a 25th anniversary concert was held for Merzhanov. He played three piano concertos by L.v. Beethoven (C minor), Liszt (E flat major) and S. Rachmaninov (D minor), an event remembered to this day.
Victor Merzhanov was a frequent guest to Poland. He has performed (his last appearance was on August 23, 1999 at the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki), appeared as visiting professor of post-graduate studies at the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw (1973-1976), master-classes teacher in Wrocław (1980’s and 1990’s) and member of the jury for the Liszt Piano Competition in Wrocław and the Chopin Competition in Warsaw (1975, 1995 and 2000). A Professor at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Tambov Rachmaninov Institute, Victor Merzhanov was a jury member in more than 40 international competitions including the Rachmaninov Competition (which he has founded) and Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Bartok-Liszt Competition in Budapest, and international music competitions in Athens, Bolzano, Brussels, Budapest, Montevideo, Montreal, Naples, Porto, Tokyo, Valencia, Zwickau and others. In addition, Merzhanov is the artistic director of the Rachmaninov Piano Courses, and has contributed greatly to the Rachmaninov Museum in Ivanovka near Tambov.
Victor Merzhanov has made numerous recordings for major labels in the USA, Italy, Japan and the USSR (Melodiya and Vista Vera). His recordings show his repertoire, including works from the Baroque period to contemporary music, from works by J.S. Bach and Ludwig v. Beethoven, Chopin, F. Liszt, J. Brahms, Grieg and Mussorgsky to those by Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich.
