Jascha Nemtsov became famous for his numerous recordings (on Bechstein too). 2013 he was appointed as professor for History of Jewish Music at the Liszt School of Music Weimar. The pianist Jascha Nemtsov is equally accomplished as a soloist and an outstanding chamber musician. He was born in Magadan (Siberia) and grew up in Saint Petersburg where he graduated from a special music school and was awarded a gold medal. He then continued his musical education at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory where he graduated with a concert diploma, with distinction. Since 1992 he lives in the Federal Republic of Germany where he started a brilliant international career. Among his regular chamber music partners are David Geringas, the Vogler Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Ingolf Turban, Dmitri Sitkovetsky, Kolja Blacher and Chen Halevi.Jascha Nemtsov’s repertoire is exceptionally wide and varied: Next to the Classic Romantic repertoire, he is especially dedicated to the music of the 20th century up to the 21st century with special emphasis on Russian music (particularly Shostakovich but also Zaderatsky, Weinberg and others). In addition, he has performed several concert programmes devoted to works by Jewish composers who were persecuted by the Nazis. He is further specialized in Jewish artistic music of the early 20th century both as a pianist and as a musicologist. As such Jascha Nemtsov has rescued and wrested from obscurity the nearly forgotten amazing work of a whole composers’ school, the New Jewish School. Jascha Nemtsov plays solo concerts as well as participates in various chamber music formations in Europe, Israel, Russia, Canada, and the USA. Additionally he is an exceptionally gifted narrator who often accentuates his concerts with lively comments.
By now he has recorded 28 CDs, featuring numerous world premiere recordings and a vast spectrum of recordings from Romantic compositions such as Liszt and Raff to Turkish music (Saygun), Bartok, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and to Shchedrin and Balakauskas. "Jascha Nemtsov presents himself as a worthy descendant of Liszt and his pupils", so the German magazine "Fono Forum" in November of 2008 on the occasion of Nemtsov's new released CD with rhapsodies by Franz Liszt. He has worked with labels such as Hänssler Classic, Oehms Classic, Edition Profil, Neos, cpo and Edition Abseits. Hänssler Classic released an entire series of Jascha Nemtsov’s CDs with works of the New Jewish School, which enjoyed world-wide popularity. Many of his CDs have been honoured with various international distinctions like "Audiophile Reference - The Best of 2001", "Klassik heute Empfehlung", "CHOC - Le Monde de la Musique", "Recording of the Month (MusicWeb)", and "Disc of the Month" (BBC Music Magazine). In 2007 his CD featuring sonatas for violin and piano by Shostakovich and Weinberg, together with the violinist Kolja Blacher, was awarded the German Record Critics Prize.
In 2004, Jascha Nemtsov earned his doctorate and in 2007 his habilitation. He is a member of the School of Jewish Studies at the University of Potsdam and of the Editorial Board of the Milken Archive of Jewish Music (Santa Monica/New York). In 2006, he started teaching at the Abraham Geiger College and became member of the Board of Directors and Head of the Cantorial School of the Abraham Geiger College (Berlin/Potsdam) in 2010. 2013 he was appointed as professor for History of Jewish Music at the Liszt School of Music Weimar.
Fotos © Rut Sigurdardóttir
