Karl Eliasberg studied at the Leningrad Conservatory, where he was a fellow student of Dmitri Shostakovich. He was appointed artistic director and principal conductor of the Leningrad Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1931, a post which he held until 1953. Under appalling circumstances he conducted this orchestra in 1942 in the first Leningrad performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, which portrayed the city’s memorable struggle and triumph against German invasion during World War II. When Eliasberg first studied the score of the symphony, which had been brought to Leningrad especially by aeroplane following its initial performances in Samara and Moscow, he saw at once that the greatest difficulty for its performers was likely to be lack of stamina as a result of the German blockade of the city and the critical shortage of food. The first rehearsals, which lasted only a few minutes, proved his fears to be well-founded. Wind players were soon breathless and the ice-cold instruments blistered the brass players’ lips; many musicians were so emaciated that they were simply unable to lift their instruments. Nevertheless, little by little, the orchestra gradually regained some of its force and sound, and additional musicians were drafted in from Red Army units. The performance of the Symphony No. 7 was a vital event for all Leningraders, and it proved to be a major morale booster, helping to reinforce faith in an ultimate Russian victory. In 1944 Eliasberg, who had married Nina Bronnikova, the pianist at the performance of the symphony, was named an Honoured Artist of the Soviet State. He went on to be active as a conductor throughout the Soviet Union, appearing with many different orchestras. His repertoire was large and covered the major European composers from Vivaldi to Schoenberg, as well as those of the Soviet era. He was also quite active in the state recording studios, principally as an accompanist. He died in 1978, separated from his wife and in some poverty.

Since Eliasberg’s death his reputation has undergone a renaissance, helped primarily by the issue of recordings of concerts broadcast by Russian radio and preserved in the state archives. Most of his formal studio recordings were made with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra, and included him directing the accompaniments to Saint-Saens’s Le Carnaval des Animaux (with Emil Gilels, Yakov Zak and Daniel Shafran), Grieg’s Piano Concerto (with Yuri Mouravlev), Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 (with Leonid Kogan), and Rakov’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (with David Oistrakh). He directed the Leningrad Radio Symphony Orchestra in the accompaniment to Brahms’s Double Concerto, with David Oistrakh and Stanislav Kushnevitsky. Also of interest are powerful readings of Schumann’s Overture Manfred, with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, and of that composer’s Symphony No. 1, with the Leningrad Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as a rare recording of Liapunov’s Solemn Overture on Russian Themes, with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra. Among the live performances released by Melodya, of note are intense readings of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Natalia Rozhdestvenskaya (USSR State Symphony Orchestra, 1954), Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 (Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, 1960), and Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht (USSR State Symphony Orchestra, 1976).

© Naxos Rights International Ltd. — David Patmore (A–Z of Conductors, Naxos 8.558087–90).