Mischa Maisky
Cello
Bio
Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon FRAM)
Mischa Maisky has the distinction of being the only cellist in the world to have studied with both Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky. Rostropovich has lauded Mischa Maisky as:
"...one of the most outstanding talents of the younger generation of cellists. His playing combines poetry and exquisite delicacy with great temperament and brilliant technique."
Born in Latvia, educated in Russia, after his repatriation to Israel, Mischa Maisky has been enthusiastically received in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, New York and Tokyo, along with the rest of the major music centres.
He considers himself as a citizen of the world: „I’m playing an Italian cello, with French and German bows, Austrian and German strings, my 6 children were born in 4 different countries, my second wife is half Sri Lankan – half Italian, I’m driving a Japanese car, wear a Swiss watch and I feel at home everywhere where people appreciate and enjoy classical music.“
As an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist for more than 30 years he made well over 35 recordings with such orchestras as Vienna, Israel and Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orpheus und Chamber Orchestra of Europe and others.
His latest recording „Adagietto“ released in August 2018 is a very personal album recorded with his pianist daughter Lily and features bonus live recordings with Martha Argerich, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin and his violinist son Sascha Maisky. Included is a multi-track arrangement of Mahler’s Adagietto from his 5th Symphony with Mischa playing all parts (except the part for harp), a project the cellist has dreamt of for many years.
Another recording with 20th century classics is planned to be released in autumn 2019.
Maisky’s recordings have enjoyed world-wide critical acclaim and have been awarded five times the prestigious Record Academy Prize in Tokyo, three times Echo Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, Grand Prix du Disque in Paris and Diapason d’Or of theYear as well as the coveted Grammy nominations.
One of the highlights in his career was the year 2000 - it was mainly devoted to aworld-wide Bach tour which included over 100 concerts! In order to express his deepadmiration for this great composer, Mischa Maisky has recorded Bach's Solo Suitesthree times.
Another highlight was certainly his trio performance in Carnegie Hall with Itzhak Perlman and Evgeny Kissin in December 2015.
Truly a world-class musician and regular guest in most major International Festivals he collaborated with such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Carlo Maria Giulini, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, James Levine, Charles Dutoit, Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev and Gustavo Dudamel and his partnerships have included artists as Martha Argerich, Radu Lupu, Nelson Freire, Evgeny Kissin, Itzhak Perlman, Lang Lang, Peter Serkin, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Joshua Bell, Julian Rachlin and Janine Jansen to name just a few.
