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Zara Aleksandrovna Levina (5 February 1906 [O.S. 25 January] – 27 June, 1976) was a Soviet pianist and composer.

She born in Simferopol, Russian Empire and was from a Jewish family. Zara Levina studied piano in the Odessa Conservatory, which she passed with a gold medal. She graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1932, where she had studied piano and composition.

In her early age, Zara Levina admired the composers Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Beethoven and Schumann. She mainly wrote choral works (mostly romances, then children's songs), also other vocal music, as well as two piano concertos and solo piano works. The inspiration of those five composers is evident throughout her works. Both of her piano concertos have been recorded, as has her 1928 first violin sonata (by David Oistrakh). She was married to the composer Nikolai Chemberdzhi [ru] (1903–1948). Her grandson is the pianist Alexander Melnikov. Her granddaughter is the pianist and composer Katia Tchemberdji. She died in Moscow.

Recordings

• 2017 Zara Levina: The Piano Concertos, Capriccio C5269
  • Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Ariane Matiakh, conductor; Maria Lettberg, piano soloist
• 2019 Zara Levina: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2; Violin Sonata; Poeme; Canzonetta; Hebrew Rhapsody, Capriccio C5356
  • Maria Lettberg, piano; Yury Revich, violin; Gernot Adrion, viola; Ringela Riemke, cello; Katia Tchemberdji, piano

Notes

1. • Russian: Зара Александровна Левина, romanized: Zara Aleksandrovna Levina
   • Ukrainian: Зара Олександрівна Левіна, romanized: Zara Oleksandrivna Levina

References

• Levina page from van Rijen Soviet Composer Site
• MUGI (in German)

External links

• Free scores by Zara Levina at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

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• 1906 births
• 1976 deaths
• Musicians from Simferopol
• Ukrainian Jews
• Jewish classical musicians
• Russian women classical composers
• Russian classical composers
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• Russian women pianists
• Soviet classical composers
• Moscow Conservatory alumni
• 20th-century women composers
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