Victor and Lilian Hochhauser

Victor and Lilian Hochhauser have both been closely associated with Russian artists for over fifty years and their influence on the cultural life of Britain has been considerable.

Not only have they regularly brought the Bolshoi and Mariinsky (formerly Kirov) opera and ballet companies to London since the early 60s, they have also promoted a galaxy of musicians including the Borodin Quartet, Emil Gilels, David and Igor Oistrakh, Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya and all the leading Russian orchestras, as well as composers such as Dmitri Kabalevsky, Aram Khachaturian, Dmitri Shostakovich and Moise Weinberg.

Other legendary Russian artists that the Hochhausers have been responsible for introducing to the West are

• Mikhail Baryshnikov
• Rudolf Barshai
• Arvid Jansons
• Leonid Kogan
• Kyril Kondrashin
• Natalia Makarova
• Léonide Massine
• Evgeny Mravinsky
• Rudolf Nureyev
• Maya Plisetskaya
• Viktoria Postnikova
• Gennady Rozhdestvensky
• Maxim Shostakovich
• Evgeny Svetlanov

...as well as several famous Russian orchestras including

• The Leningrad Philharmonic
• The Moscow Chamber Orchestra
• The Moscow Philharmonic
• The Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre
• The Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre
• The Russian State Orchestra

They arranged the first UK performances of the following pieces, composed by Dmitri Shostakovich:

• Symphonies Nos 4,8,13,14 and 15
• the complete cycle of his fifteen quartets
• his two violin and two cello concertos
• and his Seven Romances on verses by Alexander Blok

In 1972, they organised 32 concerts across the country in a Festival of Russian Music and Musicians, with Dmitri Shostakovich as guest of honour.

Victor and Lilian Hochhauser also introduced to the UK many spectacular ethnic dance companies, including

• Ballet Folklórico de México
• The Black Sea Navy Ensemble
• Mazowsze Company from Poland
• The Moiseyev Dance Company
• The Red Army Ensemble
• Virsky Ukranian Folk DanceCompany

In 1961 they brought the Kirov Ballet to the Royal Opera House for its first tour to the West, followed by the Bolshoi Ballet in 1963. Since then, these two magnificent companies have been regular UK visitors. Since 1991, they have arranged more than 1,500 performances of Moscow City Ballet in theatres all over the British Isles.

After the 2007 UK Bolshoi tour, Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards gave the Bolshoi Ballet the Best Foreign Dance Company award, Natalia Osipova received the Richard Sherrington Best Female Dancer award and Ivan Vasiliev received the Spotlight award.

Following the 2010 Summer Season, the Bolshoi again triumphed with another three accolades from the Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards: Natalia Osipova received the Best Female Dancer, Ivan Vasiliev, the Dancing Times award for Best Male Dancer and the Bolshoi Theatre the Best Foreign Dance Company award.

Victor and Lilian Hochhauser have also enjoyed a long history of presenting great international stars such as Marian Anderson, Anton Dolin, Margot Fonteyn, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Sylvie Guillem, Alicia Markova, Josef Krips, Mario Lanza, Joan Sutherland and major international companies such as the Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe of China, Paco Peña and his Flamenco Dance Company, La Scala Milan, the National Ballet of China, San Francisco Ballet and the Spanish Riding School of Vienna.

For the past eleven years they have arranged all the summer seasons at the Royal Opera House.

Lilian Hochhauser was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 1991 and Victor Hochhauser was made a CBE for his contribution to the arts in 1993.