Nikolai Zverev
Nikolai Sergeyevich Zverev (1833–1893) was a Russian pianist and teacher who trained many famous musicians, including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Scriabin, Alexander Siloti, Konstantin Igumnov, and Alexander Goldenweiser.
He was born in Volokolamsk into an aristocratic family. He studied mathematics and physics at Moscow State University while taking piano lessons from Dubuque. He did not graduate because he inherited a large fortune and moved to Saint Petersburg to work as a civil servant. There, he studied piano with Adolf von Henselt, who taught that hard practice was essential—an idea that shaped Zverev’s strict teaching method.
Discontent with civil service and encouraged by Dubuque, he returned to Moscow in 1867 to become a private teacher. In 1870, Nikolai Rubinstein invited him to teach at the Moscow Conservatory. He also studied harmony with Tchaikovsky at some point. Zverev never married.
He died in 1893 at age 60.
Pupils had to audition to study with him and, once admitted, would move into his house. Rachmaninoff recalled Zverev as strict and temperamental at times, yet also generous, kind, and highly intelligent. He pushed his students hard, drove them to concerts, and helped their careers, often without taking payment for lessons or board. He treated his students to fine clothing and ensured they attended premieres.
Zverev believed in a well-rounded education: students had to attend opera and rehearse chamber music, and they practiced many hours each week. Sundays were open house, with musical and intellectual guests from Moscow, such as Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, Arensky, Rubinstein, Safonov, and Siloti. At these gatherings, only the students touched the piano, to illustrate a point. He named his male students “cubs” (zveryata).
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:47 (CET).