Leo Grigoryevich Sirota (May 4, 1885 – February 25, 1965) was a Russian-born Austrian, Japanese, and American pianist, teacher, and conductor. A child prodigy, he toured across Russia and came to the attention of Ignacy Jan Paderewski. After graduating from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, with a letter of recommendation from Alexander Glazunov to Ferruccio Busoni, he emigrated to Austria-Hungary.
Settling in Vienna, Sirota was celebrated by the city's society. He also became one of Busoni's favorite pupils and was later treated by him as a colleague. World War I disrupted his international career. He met and befriended Jascha Horenstein during this period, eventually marrying his sister. After the war, his career resumed, and was acclaimed across Europe.
After his second tour of the Soviet Union in 1928, Sirota ended up in Manchuria, from where he was persuaded to perform a tour in the Empire of Japan. The enthusiasm of the Japanese public and press was so immense, that Sirota decided to move to Tokyo with his family in 1930. He joined the faculty of the Tokyo Music School and became the crucial figure in the development of piano playing in Japan. After the start of the Pacific War, he was discriminated against by Japanese society and was repeatedly scrutinized by the Tokkō. In 1944, he was evacuated with other foreign citizens to Karuizawa, where they spent the duration of the war under harsh circumstances.
He returned to musical life after the war, emigrating to the United States, which became his final home. After briefly living in New York City, he accepted the role as head of the piano department at the St. Louis Institute of Music, and settled with his wife in the suburb of Clayton. In late 1963, Sirota returned to Japan for what became his final performances there; the trip was widely reported on in the Japanese press. He died in New York City in 1965.
Biography
Youth
Sources conflict on where Sirota was born in the Russian Empire. According to his students Joan Kelley Arison and Alexis Abaza, Sirota was born in Kamenets-Podolsky, Podolia Governorate. His daughter, Beate, said he was born in Kiev, Kiev Governorate. (Both birthplace locations are today part of Ukraine.) Sirota was the fourth of five children born to a middle-class Jewish family; his father owned a clothing store. Sirota's siblings were all musically inclined, including his two brothers; Wiktor became a conductor of operettas, Pyotr a music agent and promoter.
Sirota began studying piano at age 5 with a pianist who was boarding with his family, Michael Wexler. Sirota's pianistic skill developed rapidly. Administrators at his school regularly called upon him to play for visiting dignitaries. In 1893, Sirota performed his public debut recital. That same year he enrolled at the Imperial Music School of Kiev; Sergei Tarnowsky was among his classmates.
At the age of 10 Sirota embarked upon his first Russian tour, during which he played for Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Impressed by his talent, he invited Sirota to study with him in Paris, but his mother declined the offer believing that her son was too young to study in another country. The following year, Sirota began to teach piano. After graduation, he enrolled at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. The school's dean, Alexander Glazunov, wrote a recommendation letter for him to Ferruccio Busoni in Vienna.
In 1899, Sirota was appointed a répétiteur for the Kiev Civic Opera, where he also accompanied visiting singers in recitals, including Feodor Chaliapin.
The rise of anti-Semitic violence in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century convinced Sirota to consider emigration. His brothers had already preceded him by emigrating to Warsaw and Paris. Sirota emigrated to Vienna in 1904.
Vienna and studies with Busoni
Sirota's talent, personality, and appearance helped him quickly gain acceptance into Viennese musical society of the time, which opened professional and social connections for him. Women were particularly drawn to him; one admirer bequeathed to him an apartment. At first he refrained from using his letter of recommendation to Busoni, choosing instead to first audition for Paderewski, Josef Hofmann and Leopold Godowsky. He auditioned for Busoni after and chose him as a teacher. When Sirota presented his letter of recommendation from Glazunov, Busoni replied, "What need is there for this? I have heard you play!" While studying with Busoni, Sirota also enrolled as a philosophy student at the University of Vienna using the name Leiba Girshovich.