Max Shakhnovich Fishman (Polish: Mieczysà Âaw (Mietek) Fiszman /Fischman/; Romanian: Max FiÃÂman; Russian: ÃÂðúàèðàýþòøàäøÃÂüðý, known as Max Benovich Fishman), (December 12, 1915âÂÂSeptember 24, 1985) was a Moldavian Soviet composer, pianist, and teacher. Fishman was raised within Jewish, Polish, and Russian cultural traditions.
Born in Warsaw he studied piano at the Chopin University of Music. He was well-known in the Polish music scene. During the Nazi invasion in Poland in 1939 he fled to the Soviet Union. Later he was arrested by the NKVD and deported.
In the 1950s, Fishman lived in ChiÃÂinÃÂu. He laid the pedagogical foundation of the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts in ChiÃÂinÃÂu. He composed, including piano concertos, chamber music and orchestral works. His aesthetic reflects blend of Ashkenazi Jewish folk motifs, Slavic Romanticism, and Soviet neoclassicism.
Max Fishman was born on December 12, 1915, in Warsaw, in the family of an entrepreneur, philanthropist and the head of the Warsaw synagogue (1870, Opatów â July 1, 1936, Warsaw) and Esther Fishman, née Bleiberg (1880, ÃÂmielów â according to some sources 1942âÂÂ1943 in the Warsaw Ghetto or Treblinka extermination camp) He had six older sisters and a younger brother.
He studied piano under Józef Turczyà Âski and composition unde Antoni Marek at the Warsaw Conservatory. As a student, he composed music and participated in concerts. He collaborated with popular Polish actresses Ida Kamià Âska and Lola Folman, hypnotist and illusionist Wolf Messing, and performed at the famous orphan school Janusz Korczak, where he worked as an educator in the summer months. Drafted into the army in August 1939, he joined the anti-fascist resistance during Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1.
Fleeing from Nazi persecution, on October 21, 1939, he swam and crossed the Western Bug with his nephew Pawel Gruenspan (1920âÂÂ2000, a Polish pianist, composer, and leader of the Jazz Orchestra) and ended up in territory occupied by the Soviet Union under the MolotovâÂÂRibbentrop Pact. He was arrested by the NKVD, where, instead of the surname Mieczysà Âaw (Mietek), they wrote the name Max Fishman and put him in a camp.
In the spring of 1940; Fishman narrowly avoided execution in the Katyn Massacre. Instead, he was sent to the Labor army (NKVD labor columns), effectively the Gulag. He traversed much of the USSR, working on construction sites and logging operations. In Aktyubinsk, Kazakhstan, he hauled trolleys laden with chrome ore from deep mines.
In September 1944, after a concert, where, under the leadership of Max Fishman, a group of Poles from the Labor Army performed Polish folk and patriotic songs to improve the image of the USSR in the eyes of the Polish army on the territory of the USSR, he, with frostbite on his hands and poor health, was released and sent to study at the Saratov Conservatory. In recognition of his hardships, he was later awarded the Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941âÂÂ1945". During the war, almost all of his relatives perished in the Warsaw Ghetto. Many of them participated in the 1943 Warsaw uprising. Max Fishman's early compositions were lost.
At the Saratov Conservatory, he studied piano with professor , from where he was transferred to the Minsk Conservatory in 1945. There he studied with professor (piano) and listened to lectures on composition by Professor A.V. Bogatyrev, although formally he was not his registered student. In 1945 he married Lydia Axionova. Since 1947 ÃÂax Fishman has been repetiteur, a pianist accompanist at the Minsk Conservatory. After graduating from the Minsk Conservatory, Max Fishman had great difficulties with his job in Minsk, since at that time in the USSR there was an extensive campaign against cosmopolitanism, with anti-Semitic essence. After working at the Musical College of Gomel, he and his wife were sent to Moldavia.
Beginning in 1952, he worked at the (later renamed the ChiÃÂinÃÂu Institute of Arts named after G. Muzicescu, now the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts) as an accompanist and piano teacher. More than a hundred students from various departments, including strings, wind and folk instruments, vocals, and acting, studied piano under Max Fishman at the Chisinau Conservatory and later became leading masters of musical and theatrical art in Moldova. He also taught piano at the Calarasi Pedagogical College and at the music school in the village .
Max Fishman was actively involved in composing. Dozens of different genres remained in his creative portfolio the historical and artistic significance of which is confirmed by their popularity in the past. The compositions of Max Fishman have been and are still being performed by leading musical groups of Moldova â by the Symphony Orchestra , the Philharmonic choir Doina, the Moldovan Jazz Orchestra "Bucuria" Moldovan Philharmonic, the Symphony Orchestra Moldovan Radio and Television, the National Chamber Orchestra in the , the choir ChiÃÂinÃÂu Conservatory, the choir ChiÃÂinÃÂu Institute of Arts named after Gavriil Musicescu, the choir ChiÃÂinÃÂu Academy of Music, the choir ChiÃÂinÃÂu special music school named after E. Coca and others.
From an interview with Moldovan violinist and composer, Honored Art Worker of the Moldavian SSR, professor to music critic, journalist Serghei Pojar (2010):
Max Fishman died on September 24, 1985, in ChiÃÂinÃÂu. He was buried at the Chisinau cemetery of St. Lazarus (also called "Doina").
His wife Lydia Axionova (July 19, 1923 â September 18, 2019) was a Soviet and Moldovan áhoir áonductor, the first woman áonductor of the Symphony Orchestra in Moldova, the first in Moldova who got the academic title Professor of áhoral áonducting. Their sons: actor, and director BÃÂno Axionov (b. 1946) and pianist, and teacher Artur Aksenov (b.1956).
In 2006, a disc was released with recordings of music by M. Fishman (from the funds of "Teleradio-Moldova", total time â 78:19.04), which included:
According to Moldovan composer, Honored Art Worker of the Moldavian SSR Vladimir Slivinsky to music critic, and journalist Serghei Pojar (2004), Fishman was a significant Moldovan composer who, despite not being an official member of the Union of Composers, was essential to it. His originality and modernity drew from both Moldovan and Jewish musical traditions, which some critics were annoyed by. Fishman's music resonated deeply with audiences, leaving no one indifferent, even among his "ill-wishers". He was known for his frankness, charm, and a supportive approach to his colleagues, focusing on constructive feedback rather than criticism. Ultimately, while the Union of Composers may have sought his influence, he did not rely on their validation for his artistic identity.
Tamara Melnik PhD wrote an article titled Composer and professor Max Fishman, where they described Fishman and his work as original, bright, and extraordinary. That his four piano concertos are considered the pinnacle of his work in this genre. The Piano Concerto in E-flat major is highlighted as a continuation of the romantic tradition and is praised for it diverse piano textures, expressive harmonic language, intense thematic and tonal development, and vivid national-colored imagery. These qualities place it among the most outstanding examples of this genre by Moldovan composers in the second half of the 20th century. From 1950 to 1970, Fishman became a significant figure in Moldova's professional composing circles. His work spans a wide range of genres, including symphonic and chamber-instrumental works, piano concertos, miniature cycles, canons, etudes, and adaptations. His compositions reflect influences of Romantic era composers such Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff. However, the originality of his works is largely attributed to their national identity. this previously unstudied work has both artistic and historical value. It contributes to the understanding of the piano concerto genre's development in Moldovan music. Pavel Borisovich Rivilis, a senior consultant at the Union of Composers of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, considers it one of the finest examples of a post-World War II piano concerto.
Irina Pleà Âcan, Associate Professor of the Pridnestrovian State Institute of Arts in Tiraspol, in an article titled The piano trio by M. Fishman as a sound document of its era describes Max Fishman's Trio as a musical work that encapsulates the spirit of its time, blending various musical ideas and traditions. Despite the composer's traumatic experiences during the 20th century, including the loss of family members in the Holocaust and his own hardships, Fishman maintained an optimistic outlook that is evident in his music. The composition reflects the strong impact of Russian music on both Moldovan and Polish musical cultures. Fishman's work is characterized by its ability to assimilate diverse compositional techniques while preserving and expressing the composer's ethnic and cultural identity. This fusion of influences and personal experiences results in a unique musical voice that reflects both the composer's individual journey and the broader cultural context of mid-20th century Eastern European music.
Victoria Tcacenco PhD, in an article titled Overture by Max Fià Âman in Prfofessional European Music and the Third Layer Interaction Context, discusses Fishman's Overture. It is a musical composition that exists solely in written form, with no surviving recordings. Analysis of the score reveals that the work is characterized by its bright and theatrical qualities, rich contrasts, and accessibility to a broad audience. The composition employs a democratic musical language, drawing on rhythms from everyday genres and synthesizing elements of Moldavian folklore along with popular "mass music." Fishman demonstrates a strong mastery of listener perception, making the overture engaging and relatable. It is considered one of the notable examples of everyday music from its time, preserving important insights into the musical culture of that era.