Leo Smit was born in Philadelphia 100 years ago today.
Not to be confused with the Dutch composer of the same name (born in 1900), Smit was the son of Russian immigrants. His father was a violinist who performed with Leopold Stokowski in Philadelphia, Fritz Reiner in Cincinnati, and Arturo Toscanini in New York (with the NBC Symphony).
A child prodigy, Leo took to the piano by the age of 5. When he was about 8, his mother took him to Moscow, where he studied for a year with composer Dmitri Kabalevsky.
Back home, he was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music. He was taught there by Isabella Vengerova. Vengerova was a Leschetizky pupil. Her other students included Gary Graffman, Gilbert Kalish, Leonard Pennario, Menahem Pressler, and Abbey Simon.
Smit also learned from José Iturbi, the Spanish conductor, pianist, and harpsichordist, who achieved wider recognition in Hollywood films of the 1940s. Iturbi stood in for Cornel Wilde on the soundtrack to the Chopin biopic “A Song to Remember.”
He received further instruction in composition from Nicolas Nabokov, who was the first cousin of Vladimir Nabokov.
At 15 or 16, Smit became a rehearsal pianist for George Balanchine. He first worked with Igor Stravinsky while preparing for the world premiere of “Jeu de Cartes.” He was a devoted champion of the music of Aaron Copland, all of whose works for the keyboard he recorded. He once had the opportunity to play privately for Béla Bartók, for whom he turned pages at Carnegie Hall. Following the Carnegie concert, Copland introduced him to Leonard Bernstein. Smit also did much to revive the reputation of boogie-woogie master Pete Johnson.
In 1951, the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed Smit’s First Symphony. He also composed two operas, “The Alchemy of Love,” on a libretto by British astronomer Fred Hoyle (who also provided the text for an oratorio about Copernicus), and “Magic Water.” Among his other compositions was a collection of 100 songs after poems of Emily Dickinson. His works were programmed by Bernstein, Stokowski, and Serge Koussevitzky.
For three decades, he made his home in Buffalo, where he served on the faculty of the State University of New York. Earlier, he taught at Sarah Lawrence College and the University of California. As a photographer, he captured images of some of the era’s most notable musicians. He sometimes performed recitals to curated slide shows of his work.
Smit died in 1999 at the age of 78.
Leo Smit, Symphony No. 1:
Interesting interview with Bruce Duffie, including a great recollection of Stravinsky:
http://www.bruceduffie.com/leosmit.html
Smit speaks with David Dubal, now host of WWFM – The Classical Network’s “The Piano Mattters”:
Smit and Copland play “Danzon Cubano,” in its original two-piano version:
PHOTO: Smit (standing), with Copland and Bernstein, photobombed by some guy in a hair helmet
