Abram Shatskes

Abram Vladimirovich Shatskes (August 13 [O.S. July 31], 1900, Vilna – February 4, 1961, Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet pianist and music educator. He was born in Vilna to Vulf Shmuelevich Shatskes, a burgher from Grodno, and Rokhlya-Yudes Abramovna Shatskes (née Shtutser), a native of Podberezye. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory under Nikolai Metner. After Metner's emigration, Shatskes graduated from the conservatory with a gold medal in the class of Karl Kipp in 1923 and completed his postgraduate studies under the guidance of Konstantin Igumnov in 1928.

From 1928, with a brief interruption at the turn of the 1940s-1950s, he taught at the Moscow Conservatory, becoming an associate professor in 1931 and a full professor in 1935. He also worked at the Central Music School. Among his students were Maria Gambaryan, Ilze Graubiņa, Anna Kantor, Eteri Mgaloblishvili, and his son, Boris Shatskes.

Shatskes became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1940. During the Great Patriotic War, he served as the chairman of the conservatory's military patronage commission, organizing over 4,000 concerts for soldiers and officers, half of which were performed at the front lines.

As a concert pianist, Shatskes was particularly active in the 1920s and 1930s. He established himself primarily as a thoughtful interpreter and a consistent promoter of the music of his teacher, Nikolai Metner. Shatskes's repertoire included all of Metner's major piano works, whose chamber-like character and delicate nuances were well-suited to the nature of his own performing talent.

In the late 1940s, Shatskes faced persecution for performing the works of an émigré composer. However, during the Khrushchev Thaw, he played a significant role in reviving interest in Metner's music. His recordings include Metner's First Piano Concerto, performed with the USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yevgeny Svetlanov, as well as several individual pieces.

Abram Shatskes was buried in Moscow at the Novodonskoye Cemetery, section 3. His wife, Esfir Fyodorovna Samter, was also a pianist and a graduate of the conservatory from the class of Samuil Feinberg. His son, Boris Abramovich Shatskes (1931–1985), was a chess player, pianist, music educator, and a Master of Sports of the USSR (1961). His niece, Ada Germanovna Goncharovskaya (1912–1997), the daughter of his sister Berta, was a theater actress, director, and head of the culture department of the Kaliningrad Regional Executive Committee; she also authored memoirs about her family.

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