Icon: Nathan Milstein

Nathan Mironovich Milstein was born in 1903 in Odessa (then in Russia but now in the Ukraine). His first violin lessons took place when he was just 7 years old in Odessa with the eminent teacher Piotr Stolyarsky who, a little later, taught David Oistrakh and, later still, his son Igor. Milstein then took up studies in St. Petersburg at the invitation of the great Leopold Auer, himself a virtuoso of the violin and a hugely influential teacher. It was at this time that he became friendly with Jascha Heifetz and Vladimir Horenstein and, whilst on tour with Horowitz, the two young men decided not to return to Soviet Russia but to stay in the West. In 1929 Milstein made his American début with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. Eventually he settled in the US and became an American citizen in 1942. In 1948 Milstein's recording of the Mendelssohn E minor Concerto, with Bruno Walter conducting, became the very first item in Columbia Records' new LP catalogue. This new Icon set of 8 well-filled CDs brings together a carefully-chosen selection of some of Milstein's greatest recordings for Capitol and EMI Classics, made during the years 1955 - 1964, when Milstein's incredible talent as one of the finest soloists of the 20th Century was at its best.