Gitta Gradova

Gitta Gradova (June 8, 1904 – April 26, 1985) was an American pianist.

Gertrude Weinstock
Gradova from a 1920 publication
Born	Gertrude Weinstock (1904-06-08)June 8, 1904 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	April 26, 1985(1985-04-26) (aged 81) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

Early life

Gradova was born as Gertrude Weinstock on June 8, 1904 in Chicago, Illinois, US.^[1] The daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants to the United States,^[1] she was the youngest child of Joseph and Sonya Weinstock. Her father, Joseph Weinstock, was a rabbi by profession; both of her parents had been actors in Yiddish theatre when young.^[2] Identified as a musical talent in childhood^[3] she was already performing as a soloist in Chicago before her teens.^[4][5] Her teacher in Chicago from age 7 was Esther Harris Dua.^[6][7] Gradova was sent to New York at age 13, to study piano with Sergei Prokofiev.^[8]

Career

At 19, Gitta Gradova performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1923. It was around this time that she adopted the stage name of "Gitta Gradova".^[1]

She was a friend of Sergei Rachmaninoff and Vladimir Horowitz; Arturo Toscanini praised her work.^[9] "Miss Gradova is a pianist whose own brilliancy, accuracy, and forcefulness become a transforming medium for what she plays," wrote a Chicago critic in 1931.^[10] She toured in Europe in 1935,^[11] and was featured at the Chicago's outdoor Ravinia Festival in 1938 and 1941.^[12][13]

Although she retired from performing in 1942, she never stopped practicing daily at home; she taught piano, and played for guests and friends, according to her son. At the time of her death, she was planning a return to the concert stage, to play Rachmaninoff's First Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony under James Levine.^[9] It is said in her son's memoir, that she had confided in one of her grandchildren that she was nervous about the performance.

Personal life

She married a doctor, Maurice Cottle. They lived in Chicago, and had two children, Thomas and Judy; both earned PhDs and Judy became a cabaret singer in New York. She also had a brother, Marcus Weinstock and a two nephews, Richard Weinstock and John Weinstock.^[14] Gitta Gradova died in 1985, aged 80, in Chicago.^[2] Her son Thomas Cottle wrote a memoir about her, When the Music Stopped: Discovering my Mother (SUNY Press 2004).^[15] Several recordings of her playing, including a private 1950 recording of Gradova and Horowitz playing a Mozart piano duet, are now available online.^[16]