Mischa Maisky

Born in 1948 in Riga, Latvia, Mischa Maisky received his first music lessons in Riga, where he attended the Children’s Music School and Conservatory. In 1962 he entered the Leningrad Con­servatory. In 1965 his debut with the Leningrad Philharmonic earned him the nickname “Ros­tropovich of the Future”. One year later he was a prizewinner at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and began 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 emigrated from the USSR.

1973
Settles in Israel; wins the 1973 Gaspar Cassadó International Cello Competition in Florence and 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
Recital with Martha Argerich, one of his most important musical partners, at the Salzburg Festival.

1995
Returns to Moscow for the first time in 23 years to give a concert and to record works by Prokofiev and Miaskovsky for DG with Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra; CD release: 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; inter­national 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, Tokyo, 2003).

2005
Concert appearances throughout western and eastern Europe and in Japan with orchestras including the Czech Philharmonic, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Prague Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, Polish Chamber Orchestra, 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; 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
Maisky’s busy schedule takes him again to western and eastern Europe for concerts with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Dresdner Philharmonic, Orchestra Sin­fonica Nazionale della RAI, Czech Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Israel Philhar­monic, Kremerata Baltica, and to Japan for concerts with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and Osaka Century orchestras. Solo and chamber-music recitals (in­cluding Bach Goldberg Variations) in Italy, China, South Africa, Israel, and Japan; appearances at festivals including Verbier, Dubrovnik, and Utrecht. He performs his programme of “Russian Romances” throughout Europe, accompanied by either Pavel Gililov or Lily Maisky at the piano. January sees the CD release of Vocalise – Russian Romances (with Pavel Gililov).

2007
Concerto performances include appearances with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Symphony (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 Pavel Gililov, Sergio Tiempo, Itamar Golan, Lily Maisky and Julian Rachlin throughout Europe, in Japan and Korea. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (with Julian Rachlin and Nobuko Imai) is scheduled for international release at the beginning of the year.

2008
World premiere of Yusupov’s Cello Concerto with the Lucerne Symphony Orches¬tra under Yuri Temirkanov in Lucerne. Concerts with the Dresden Staatskapelle (Brahms’s Double Concerto with Rachlin), the Moscow Virtuosi, et al; tours in Israel and Mexico with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Dresdner Philharmonie under Frühbeck de Burgos in South Korea. Chamber-music performances mainly with Martha Argerich, Lily Maisky and Pavel Gililov in Europe and Asia. Festival appearances include again Verbier, Martha Argerich Festival in Japan and Switzerland, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival and the Dubrovnik Festival. Release of Elégie, a selection of works by Rachmaninov arranged by Maisky and recorded together with pianist Sergio Tiempo.

2009
Scheduled are concerts in Paris, Japan and South Korea with the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France under Myung-Whun Chung, in Munich with the Munich Philharmonic under Dennis Russell Davies et al; chamber music appearances with Lily Maisky, Sergio Tiempo among others in Europe and Asia; he will meet Lang Lang and Vadim Repin giving a Schubert Piano Trio at the Verbier Festival. Release of Morgen!, featuring chamber music by R. Strauss and Dvořák, played together with Pavel Gililov.