David Oistrakh

David Fjodorowitsch Oistrakh was born in Odessa, the Ukrainian town on the black sea in the year 1908. His father was an amateur musician, his mother was a soloist at the opera house. As he told later, the violin was one of his earliest memories. He could not think himself as a boy without a small violin. At the age of 5 he was given a 1/8 violin and started his first lesson at the local school of music.

In later years, Oistrach talked about this time. He studied violin and viola. His teacher was his first and only teacher. After playing the viola in the orchestra of the conservatory he soon took the position of concert master. From approximately 1920 on, Oistrach started touring the Soviet Union and soon he played in fully booked concert halls.

In 1927, Oistrakh decided to move to Moscow where he gave his first recital and met his future wife Tamara Rotareva, a pianist, who he was to marry a year later. In 1931, their only child Igor was born, a son who was to follow in his father's footsteps and would be heard later playing violin with his father. In 1934 he received a position teaching at the Moscow Conservatoire where he was made Professor in 1939.

During World War Two, Oistrach had to play for soldiers and factory workers under sometimes difficult conditions. Tours to western countries were forbidden until the end of the war. After that time he was sent frequently to tours all over the world.

David Oistrach died of a heart attack in 1974 during a tour in Amsterdam.