Great teachers

the illustrious founder

The steps you have just climbed were, many years ago, trodden by Sergei Rachmaninoff and a host of eminent figures from the worlds of Russian and French music…

1951

A lesson with Paul Tortelier

Leaning on the balcony railing, in the centre, you can recognise the cellist Paul Tortelier, who taught two lessons a week from the start of the 1951 academic year.

This photograph, in which he is putting the world to rights surrounded by his pupils, was chosen as the cover image for the book by Erwan Barillot and Arnaud Frilley, Russian Destinies in Paris: A Century at the Rachmaninoff Conservatoire (1924–2024).

The image conveys all the freshness of a new generation of teachers who are dedicated to unwavering loyalty to the older generation. Behind it, on the information board which is still there today, one can make out the face of Sergei Rachmaninoff. This face symbolises the continuation of the educational rigour, over the generations.

1924

The prestige of the founders

Ever since its foundation in 1924, the Russian Conservatoire has counted amongst its teachers the biggest names in Russian Conservatoires in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Its first two directors are world-famous. The first is the Prince Sergei Volkonsky, one of the most learned men of his time, a literary critic and administrator of the Imperial Theatres of Russia. The second, who introduced a professional structure to the Conservatoire from the start of the 1925 academic year, was Nicolas Tcherepnine, Prokofiev’s teacher and the legendary composer of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. You’ll find these two exceptional men somewhere inside, if you look hard enough…

The Conservatoire is home to some outstanding teachers, the most famous of whom are as follows:

Boris de Schoelzer (1881–1969)

A leading intellectual, music critic and Scriabin’s brother-in-law, he edited the works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in France.

Lazare-Levy (1882–1964)

A French pianist and composer who studied under Maurice Ravel and Alfred Cortot, he was one of the greatest teachers of his time.

Léon Conus (1871–1944)

A Russian of French origin, he was the former head of the piano department at the Moscow Conservatoire and a close friend of Rachmaninoff.

Jules Conus (1869–1942)

Léon’s brother, a gold medallist at the Moscow Conservatoire who was supported by Tchaikovsky on his world tours, had a son, Boris, who married Tatiana, Rachmaninoff’s youngest daughter.

Ivan Galamian (1903–1981)

The youngest of the professors, he built a reputation as a teacher before going on to head the violin department at the Juilliard School in New York.

Nicolas Oboukhoff (1892–1954)

An avant-garde composer, he developed a twelve-tone notation system and began exploring electronic music as early as 1920.

Nicolas Kedroff (1871–1940)

The St Petersburg vocal quartet, or the «Kedroff Quartet», is touring extensively and enjoys worldwide fame – to the extent that Fyodor Shalyapin, who works regularly with the ensemble, describes it as a «miracle of vocal art».

Sophie Gladky-Kedroff (1874–1965)

A professor of opera at the Saint Petersburg Conservatoire, she also teaches at the École Normale de Paris. The grandson of Sophie and Nicolas Kedroff, also called Nicolas, is now a balalaika teacher at the Conservatoire.

Eugène Gounst (1877–1950)

A Russian composer of German origin, he co-founded the Moscow Chamber Music Society with Rachmaninoff.

Paul Vidal (1863–1931)

A prolific French composer of songs, cantatas, operas and ballets, he was a renowned teacher and the tutor of Nadia Boulanger.

Leon Tchernetsky (1875–1945)

He is renowned for his popular melodies, including *Les jours de nos vies*, which was covered by Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times.

1925

A very tempting programme…

All these prestigious names feature in the educational programme of the start of the 1925–1926 academic year, miraculously rediscovered in the archives.

Look closely at the document. It contains a famous name that you’re bound to recognise, and which we haven’t mentioned. A certain professor of orchestration, it would seem. Could he have taught at the Russian Conservatoire? To find out for certain, the best thing would be to pop in and try to meet her in person…