Mischa Maisky | Cello

Born in 1948 in Riga, Latvia, Mischa Maisky begins his first music lessons in Riga, where he attends the Children’s Music School and Conservatory. In 1962 he enters the Leningrad Conservatory. In 1965 his debut with the Leningrad Philharmonic earns him the nickname “Rostropovich of the Future”. One year later he becomes prizewinner at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and begins his studies with Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatory while pursuing a concert career throughout the former Soviet Union. After being imprisoned in a labour camp near Gorky for 18 months in 1970, he emigrates from the USSR.

1973
Settles in Israel; having won the 1973 Gaspar Cassadó International Cello Competition in Florence, makes his debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under William Steinberg; after the concert an anonymous admirer gives him an 18th-century Montagnana cello on which he still performs today

1974
Studies with the legendary Gregor Piatigorsky, thus becoming the only cellist to have studied with both Piatigorsky and Rostropovich

1975
Beginning of his international career, with regular concerts throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and the Far East, especially in Japan

1976
London concerto debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

1977
London recital debut with pianist Radu Lupu

1982
First recording for Deutsche Grammophon: Brahms’s Double Concerto with Gidon Kremer and the Wiener Philharmoniker under Leonard Bernstein

1985
Signs his first exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon; records Schumann’s Concerto with Bernstein and the Wiener Philharmoniker (released 1986); two important CD Bach releases this year: the Cello (Gamba) Sonatas with Martha Argerich and Maisky’s first recording of the Six Solo Suites

1989
CD releases include recordings of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto and Bloch’s Schelomo with Leonard Bernstein and the Israel Philharmonic (Record Academy Prize, Tokyo 1989)

1992
First appearance at the Proms in London; released on CD this year: Adagio, an anthology of Romantic pieces, with the Orchestre de Paris under Semyon Bychkov

1993
Gives a recital with Martha Argerich, one of his most important musical partners, at the Salzburg Festival

1995
Returns to Moscow for the first time after a 23-year absence to give a concert and to record works by Prokofiev and Miaskovsky for DG with Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra; CD release this year: a coupling of Vivaldi and Boccherini concertos with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Echo Award 1996)

1997
CD releases include a Tchaikovsky disc with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Songs Without Words by Brahms (with Pavel Gililov)

1998
Appears together with Martha Argerich and Gidon Kremer in Tokyo performing piano trios by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky (recorded live by DG and released in 1999, Echo Award 2000); CD releases: Cellissimo with pianist Daria Hovora, a collection of shorter pieces spanning the centuries from Bach to Bloch; and a Saint-Saëns selection with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Daria Hovora (Echo Award 1999)

1999
CD releases: a French collection entitled Après un rêve (with Daria Hovora), the Brahms Sonatas (with Pavel Gililov) and his second recording of the Bach Suites, which receives wide critical acclaim

2000
Dedicates the year mostly to Johann Sebastian Bach, beginning with a “Bach Marathon” in Zurich, where he plays all of Bach’s works for cello (the Solo Suites and Sonatas with harpsichord) in three concerts on a single day, and giving over 100 Bach concerts in Asia, Australia, North and South America, and in most European countries

2001
A recording of Maisky and Argerich Live in Japan (sonatas by Chopin, Franck and Debussy) is released this year

2002
Recitals with Martha Argerich at Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center; trio recital with Martha Argerich and Gidon Kremer at Carnegie Hall; duo recital with Sergio Tiempo at the Salzburg Festival. CD release of Mendelssohn’s Cello Sonatas with pianist Sergio Tiempo

2003
Appearances include concerts and recitals at the festivals of Verbier, Dubrovnik and Torroella, as well as throughout western and eastern Europe; a tour of the Far East (Dvořák Concerto) followed by a European tour

2004
Appearances in Rome with Chung and the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia, in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and in Paris with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; extensive performances of the Dvořák Concerto, including a tour with the Czech Philharmonic; on tour in Japan with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra; recitals and chamber music appearances in Europe, the USA, Korea, Japan and at the Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein and Salzburg festivals; CD releases: Dvořák and Strauss, with Mehta and the Berliner Philharmoniker (Record Academy Prize, Tokyo, 2003), and chamber music by Brahms and Schumann, with Argerich, Kremer and Bashmet (Record Academy Prize 2003)

2005
Concert appearances throughout Western and Eastern Europe with orchestras including the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, North German Radio Symphony (NDR) and Kremerata Baltica; benefit concert for Asian tsunami victims in January with Thomas Quasthoff at Vienna’s Musikverein; other recitals and chamber music appearances in Europe, Israel and Japan, and at the Lugano, Ludwigsburg, Rheingau, Dubrovnik and Verbier festivals; CD release: live recording of Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Stravinsky with Martha Argerich

2006
Appearances in Europe include concerts with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Dresdner Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Czech Philhar¬monic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Kremerata Baltica; concerts with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and Osaka Century orchestras in Japan. Solo and chamber-music recitals (including Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Solo Suites) in Italy, China, South Africa, Israel, and Japan; appearances at festivals including Verbier, Dubrovnik, and Utrecht. Performs “Russian Romances” throughout Europe, accompanied by either Pavel Gililov or Lily Maisky at the piano. CD release: Vocalise – Russian Romances (with Gililov)

2007
Performances include appearances with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic, the Shanghai, Barcelona and Prague Symphony Orchestras (all Dvořák), the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini (Schumann), the Viennese Radio Symphony Orchestra (Hindemith), BBC Philharmonic (R. Strauss) and the English Chamber Orchestra (Tchaikovsky). Chamber-music recitals with Martha Argerich and Renaud Capuçon (Progetto Martha Argerich), Pavel Gililov, Sergio Tiempo, Gidon Kremer (Salzburg Festival), Hélène Grimaud (Verbier Festival), Itamar Golan, Lily Maisky, and Julian Rachlin in Europe and the Far East. Release of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (with Julian Rachlin and Nobuko Imai, with whom he also performs the work in concerts throughout Europe). On DVD: Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello; a special release of works by Haydn and Schumann, with the Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Bernstein, in celebration of Maisky’s 60th birthday; Brahms’s Violin Concerto with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Bernstein as a single DVD and in the 5-DVD Brahms Cycle box

2008
World premiere of Yusupov’s Cello Concerto with the Lucerne Symphony Orches¬tra under Yuri Temirkanov in Lucerne. Concerts with the Czech Philharmonic in Bad Kissingen, the Orchestra del Teatro Verdi in Salerno, the Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra in Munich, the Berne Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle (Brahms’s Double Concerto with Rachlin), the Moscow Virtuosi, and the Orchestra del Maggio Musical di Firenze (with Rachlin and Zubin Mehta). Chamber-music performances at the Martha Argerich Beppu Festival in Japan, with Lily Maisky in Elmau, Rome, and Lucerne, with Rachlin and Golan in Gstaad, with Martha Argerich in Spain, Germany and Vienna. Further performances of Bach’s Goldberg Variations with Rachlin and Rysanov in Hamburg, Copenhagen, Florence and Bologna. Release of Elégie, a selection of works by Rachmaninov arranged by Maisky and recorded together with pianist Sergio Tiempo