The Milstein Series

Tier one-The Formative Years: Milstein was born in the then Russian Empire, to a family with no musical background; a precocious child, whereupon his mother, learning about her son's interest in the violin, forced lessons upon him. Teachers included Stolyarsky and the eminent Auer, the latter who invited the young Milstein to learn with him at The St Petersburg Conservatory(very telling of his immense talent). He deviated from Auer's pedagogy but in a way that both were critical of but also admired by Auer, that earned his ”sarcastic remark" ,"listen to the Black Sea technique". He traveled throughout Europe with his friend, the great pianist Horowitz, joined later by Piatigorsky, the cellist, before moving and settling in America. The Formative Years is voiced similarly to the raw but bold and expressive freedom of his mastery then in the instrument.