🌏🇷🇺New Jerusalem is an Orthodox monastery not far from Moscow.

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On October 21, 1912, People’s Artist of the USSR Yakov Vladimirovich Flier was born.
Yakov Flier began his career as a self-taught musician: he learned to pick out melodies by ear and independently mastered musical notation. Later, he studied at the Central Music School under the Moscow Conservatory and then at the conservatory itself. His mentor there was K. N. Igumnov, who initially viewed his training skeptically but recognized the pupil’s talent after his performance in 1934 and its sensational success.

After graduation he actively performed all over the country, winning several prestigious competitions — in Leningrad (1935), Vienna (1936), and Brussels (1938). From 1937 he began teaching, and from 1945 he was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. His performing style was distinguished by a powerful temperament and Romantic emotionality; his interpretations of Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Liszt impressed both audiences and critics.

In 1949, due to a disorder of the hands, he had to stop recitals; after surgery and long rehabilitation he focused on teaching. In 1959 he resumed performing, touring extensively abroad and receiving enthusiastic reviews.

Over the years of illness and recovery, Flier’s style changed: his playing gained depth, balance, and restraint. One could feel inner rigor and a sense of proportion. Flier noted himself that perception and the aesthetics of music change with age, and that his playing became different, more inward. Despite being regarded as one of the best Soviet pianists, he remained in the shadow of masters like Richter and Gilels devoting more time to pedagogy.

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