Berta Reingbald

Berta Mikhailovna Reingbald was a distinguished Ukrainian Soviet pianist and music pedagogue. Born in Odessa into the family of an electrical engineer, she studied at the Odessa Conservatory under Bronislawa Dronsejko-Mironowicz and Esfir Chernetskaya-Geshelin. While she occasionally performed as a concert pianist, she achieved her greatest renown through her exceptional teaching career, becoming a central figure in the Odessa piano school.

Reingbald served as a professor at the Odessa Conservatory starting in 1933 and became the head of the special piano department in 1938. Simultaneously, she taught at the famous Stolyarsky School of Music. She is best known as the primary mentor and discoverer of the legendary pianist Emil Gilels. Her class produced numerous other prominent musicians, including Oscar Feltsman, Isidore Zak, Berta Marantz, Maria Grinberg, and Zara Levina. She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1937 for her pedagogical achievements and also helped organize the Moldovan Conservatory in Chișinău in 1940.

During World War II, Reingbald was evacuated to Tashkent, where she taught at the relocated Leningrad Conservatory. During this period, she survived typhus, while her son was severely injured at the front. After the liberation of Odessa, she immediately returned to her hometown to help rebuild its musical institutions, appointed as the director of the Stolyarsky School, despite having received invitations from the Leningrad Conservatory and the Gnessin Institute in Moscow.

Tragically, her dedication to her city was met with bureaucratic indifference. Unable to secure housing after her return, she committed suicide in October 1944. Decades later, her legacy was honored by her most famous student, Emil Gilels, who performed a special memorial concert in Odessa in 1974 to mark the 30th anniversary of her death.

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