(11 February 1927, Moscow – 3 February 1999, Kyiv)
Aleksey Nikolayevich Gorokhov was a Soviet violinist who spent most of his artistic career in Ukraine. He is considered the founder of the modern Kyiv violin school and is one of the most influential personalities of Eastern European violin art of the 20th century.
Between 1934 and 1944 Gorokhov studied at the Central Music School for Gifted Children in Moscow. He then continued his education at the Moscow Conservatory, where he was a student of Lev Zeitlin and graduated in 1949. In 1955 he completed postgraduate studies with Abram Jampolski. In addition to his violin studies, Gorokhov also studied musicology.
From 1949 to 1951, Gorokhov took part in several international violin competitions. At the International Bach Competition in 1950 he received the 2nd prize, at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1951 he was awarded the 7th prize.
He subsequently gave extensive concerts in the Soviet Union as well as in numerous countries in Europe and Asia, including Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Romania, Portugal and Korea.
In 1957 Gorokhov was appointed professor of violin at the Kiev/Kyiv Conservatory (National Academy of Music of Ukraine), where he taught until the end of his life. His students include violinist and conductor, People’s Artist of Ukraine Igor Andrievsky, and Nina Sivachenko, associate professor at the National Academy of Music.
Gorokhov led a deliberately simple and reserved life. A major reason for his move to Kiev in 1956 was his deliberate distance from political reality. This may explain why, apart from the award of “Honored Artist of Ukraine”, he has not been awarded any other official honorary titles.
During his 50-year artistic career, Gorokhov left behind an extraordinarily extensive recording legacy. He was the first violinist in the Soviet Union to record all six violin concertos by Niccolo Paganini in their entirety.
He left behind over 70 hours of sound recordings for Ukrainian Radio, including Bach’s sonatas and partitas, Paganini’s 24 Caprices, Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes (in an arrangement created by Gorokhov himself) as well as violin concertos by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Brahms and many other composers.
On the occasion of his 70th birthday, Gorokhov performed all six Paganini violin concertos again within just two days. These were performed in an original orchestration developed by himself, which integrated Paganini’s virtuoso-romantic aesthetic particularly consistently into the orchestral part. The instrumentation provided for a string orchestra, supplemented by solo instruments such as guitar, viola and double bass, which gives this orchestration its special uniqueness.
The recordings, made between 1973 and 1978 with the Orchestra of the Ukrainian National Opera, were digitally remastered and re-released in 2006.
Gorokhov’s recording of Edouard Lalo’s Symphony espagnole from 1952 with the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR under the direction of Kirill Kondrashin is also of particular importance.
Quotes about Aleksey Gorokhov
Gorokhov’s playing was highly appreciated by numerous important musicians of his time, including Pierre Fournier, Jacques Thibaud, Joseph Szigeti and David Oistrakh:
The sound is reminiscent of Kreisler’s best times – the beauty of the piano and pianissimo is extraordinary.
Pierre Fournier
Gorokhov’s way of playing the violin completely captivated
me Jacques Thibaud
There were extremely positive appreciations of A. Gorokhov’s nobility and tasteful playing.
David Oistrakh, in: Novoye Vremia
The audience was impressed by the noble simplicity and modesty, combined with consummate technical mastery.
Alexander Sveshnikov, Sovetskoye Iskusstvo
There are two great violinists with an unmistakable sound who will go down in history: Kreisler and Gorokhov
Abram Stern