Igumnov, Konstantin (Nikolaievich)

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Igumnov, Konstantin (Nikolaievich)

Igumnov, Konstantin (Nikolaievich), distinguished Russian pianist and pedagogue;b. Lebedyan, near Tambov, May 1, 1873; d. Moscow, March 24, 1948. He studied piano with Zvere v and Siloti, and theory with Taneyev, Arensky, and Ippolitov-Ivanov at the Moscow Cons., graduating as a pianist in the class of Pabst (1894). He gave numerous concerts, specializing in Romantic music, and was regarded as an artist of impeccable taste who worked out every detail of the music to the utmost perfection. But great as his artistic reputation was in Russia (he rarely, if ever, played abroad), his main accomplishment was as a piano pedagogue. He was appointed a prof. of the MoscowCons. in 1899, and remained on its staff until his death. Among his students were Nikolai Orlov, Dobrowen, and Oborin. In 1946 he was made a People’s Artist of the U.S.S.R.

Bibliography

Y. Milstein, K.N. I. (Moscow, 1975).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire