Azanchevsky, Mikhail

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Azanchevsky, Mikhail

Azanchevsky, Mikhail, Russian music educator and composer; b. Moscow, April 5, 1839; d. there, Jan. 24, 1881. He studied composition with Richter and Hauptmann at the Leipzig Cons. (1861–64), and piano with Liszt in Rome. After a sojourn in Paris (1866–70) he returned to Russia, where he became executive director of the St. Petersburg Cons. (1871–76). A disciplinarian by nature, he raised the minimal requirements for acceptance of new pupils and engaged important teachers, among them Rimsky- Korsakov. In Paris he purchased the important music library of Anders, which he later presented, together with other acquisitions, to the St. Petersburg Cons. He composed a concert overture, 2 string quartets, 2 piano trios, a Cello Sonata, a Festival polonais for 2 Pianos, and numerous piano solo pieces and songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire