Simon Barere

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Simon Barere (September 1, 1896–April 2, 1951) was a Jewish-born, Russian -American pianist. As an adult, he changed the spelling of his name from Barer (without the "e") in order to reduce the frequency of mispronunciation.

Barere was born in Odessa, Russian Empire, as the eleventh of thirteen children. He studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory under Annette Essipova and then Felix Blumenfeld. After graduation, Barere began playing many concerts in many places, at the same time teaching at the Kiev Conservatory. He emigrated to Berlin, then to Sweden, and finally to the United States.

Barere was especially known for his legendary speed and finger dexterity; his rendition of Islamey, by Balakirev, was renowned for its virtuosic brilliance. According to noted music critic Harold C. Schonberg, Barere was more than scorching virtuosity: he produced a colourful piano tone and could also be highly musical.^[1]

Barere played annual recitals in Carnegie Hall, with an audience consisting of many of the foremost pianists in the world; these recitals were recorded by the pianist's son, Boris. The most famous was the performance of Franz Liszt's Sonata in B minor, recorded live in 1947, which was released on Remington Records in the 1950s. Another noteworthy example is Barere's live performance of Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody, one of the most remarkable recordings in the history of pianism.^{[citation needed]} Another is Barere's performance of Blumenfeld's Etude for the Left Hand Alone.

Barere died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage during a performance of Grieg's Piano Concerto at Carnegie Hall, with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra.