Naum Shtarkman was born on September 28, 1927 in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. The first concert with an orchestra, Mendelssohn concerto, he has played at age 11. Incredibly quickly, a year later, he gave a solo concert at the Great Hall of the Conservatory, a program which consisted of works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt.
The first concert with an orchestra, Mendelssohn concerto, Naum Lvovich has played at age 11. Incredibly quickly, a year later, he gave a solo concert at the Great Hall of the Conservatory, a program which consisted of works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt. In 1944 Naum Lvovich began studying at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of the great pianist and teacher Konstantin Igumnov.
In the 1950s Naum Lvovich participated in various international competitions, becoming, in particular, the first winner of the International Piano Competition, named Vianna da Motta (Lisbon, 1957) and received the third prize of the First International Tchaikovsky Competition (1958). However, shortly thereafter, Naum Lvovich was arrested and convicted. He was arrested in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, hours before he was scheduled to perform at a factory, as a special performance.
Despite the brevity of the incarceration (8 years), this has totally shattered his concert career: thor years he was allowed only to perform in the far off provinces or in the secondary concert halls. The arrest had also become an impediment to educational activities of Naum Lvovich: from 1969 he freelanced unofficially at the School of Gnessin and only in 1987 became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. After that he began to perform in many countries around the world.
Since 1993, Naum Lvovich was the permanent chairman of the jury of the International Competition of Pianists named after Igumnov, ongoing in Lipetsk.
