Ziloti (Siloti) A.I. (1863-1945), pianist, conductor

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
ZILOTI (Siloti) Alexander Ilyich (1863-1945), pianist, conductor, musical figure. Graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1882, went on to improve his skills and knowledge under F. Liszt, and started playing tours. He also taught at the Moscow Conservatory, where his students included S.V. Rachmaninoff and A.B. Goldenveizer. Lived in St. Petersburg from 1903 to 1917. While residing here, Ziloti initiated and conducted an annual subscription series of symphonic concerts. Later he established other programmes, such as A.I. Ziloti"s Concerts, Popular Concerts (1912), and Free Popular Concerts (1915). Ziloti"s Concerts attracted people through extraordinary playbills and programmes. Along with classic works by L. van Beethoven, W.A. Mozart, J. Brahms, and R. Schumann, one could listen to compositions by A. Vivaldi and A. Corelli. Ziloti also conceived and partially accomplished the project of performing the complete works of J.S. Bach. At the same time he acquainted the Petersburg audience with the latest music of the French school (G. Mahler, A. Schonberg, and R. Strauss all directed their own works). A.N. Scriabin first performed his Prometheus: Poem of Fire within the framework of Ziloti"s concerts, where C. Debussy"s oratorio Le Martyre de St. Sebastien was also staged. Other musicians to participate in Ziloti"s series included W. Mengelberg, F. Mottl, S. Rachmaninoff, J. Handschin, P. Casals, E. Ysaye, and J. Thibaud. Ziloti"s Concerts were given at the Small Hall of the Conservatory and at the Assembly of Nobility. Ziloti emigrated in 1919, eventually settling in the USA in 1922. There he gave concerts and taught at the Juilliard Graduate School (New York). In St. Petersburg (1913 - 1917) Ziloti lived at 11/41 Kryukov Canal Embankment.

References: Концерты А. Зилоти: Прогр. концертов за десять сезонов 1903/1904-1912/1913. СПб., 1913; Александр Ильич Зилоти, 1863-1945: Воспоминания и письма. Л., 1963.

A. L. Porfiryeva. Bach Johann Sebastian
Beethoven Ludwig van
Brahms Johannes
Casals Pablo
Corelli Archangelo
Debussy Claude Achille
Goldenveizer Alexander Borisovich
Handschin Jaques
Liszt Ferenc
Mahler Gustav
Mengelberg Willem
Motl Felix
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus
Rachmaninov Sergey Vasilievich
Schonberg Arnold
Schumann Robert
Skryabin Alexander Nikolaevich
Strauss Richard
Thibaud Jaques
Vivaldi Antonio
Ysaye Eugene
Ziloti Alexander Ilyich
Kryukova Canal Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 14
Концерты А. Зилоти: Прогр. концертов за десять сезонов 1903/1904-1912/1913. СПб.
Александр Ильич Зилоти, 1863-1945: Воспоминания и письма. Л., 1963 Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory