Zalmanovich Maria Germanovna (1903-1941)

Zalmanovich (also Zalomonovich, Salmanowitsch, Salmanovich) Maria Germanovna (b. 4 May 1903, Libava – d. 1941, Liepāja) — pianist, teacher.

From 1912 to 1918 she studied at the Petrograd Conservatory (class of A. Yesipova and F. Blumenfeld), graduating with distinction. In the 1920s she lived in Berlin, where she continued her studies with N. Medtner while also pursuing a concert career. In 1930 she returned to Riga. From 1932 she was a soloist of the Latvian Radio (in October 1932 Latvian Radio broadcast her performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2).

She performed in Riga and Liepāja as a soloist and accompanist together with J. Ioffe, O. Ryss, A. Metz, R. Stender, and others. She accompanied many guest artists, including E. Tsymbalist at the Latvian National Opera in 1937. She also took part in concerts at the Theater of the Jewish Minority, where in 1934 she performed Bach’s Double Concerto under the direction of M. Lavry.

Her repertoire also included the Piano Concerto of Jānis Mediņš, who considered her one of the best interpreters of his work. She toured in Poland in 1928 and in Estonia in 1927 and 1937.

From 1935 she taught at the First Riga Music Institute, and in 1940–1941 she was a docent at the Latvian Conservatory. Among her students were R. Gets, E. Babchin, and R. Zingarenko (later Aksina).

In June 1941 she travelled to visit relatives in Liepāja, where she was murdered by the Nazis.