Leonidas Kavakos
Leonidas Kavakos has reached widespread prominence as both a violinist and conductor. He is also an enthusiastic chamber music player.
Kavakos was born in Athens on October 30, 1967. His household was musical, and he took up the violin at five. After showing talent, he was enrolled at the Hellenic Conservatory, studying with Stelios Kafantaris. Kavakos won an Onassis Foundation scholarship, using the proceeds to travel to Indiana University in the U.S. for classes with Josef Gingold. He also regards pianist Ferenc Rados as a mentor and continues to study with him on occasion. Kavakos made his debut in Athens in 1984 and scored a breakthrough with a win at the International Sibelius Competition the following year. Several other major prizes followed, and Kavakos launched an international touring career. He gained wide notice for his 1990 recording of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, which paired the world premiere of the concerto's original 1904 version with the 1905 revision familiar today; the album won Gramophone magazine's Concerto of the Year Award. In 1996, Kavakos made his U.S. debut; he has since toured in the U.S. almost annually. He has also toured widely in Japan, often with the English Chamber Orchestra.
Developing an interest in conducting, Kavakos was named the principal guest artist with the Camerata Salzburg in 2001, often performing with the group as soloist and conductor. He succeeded Roger Norrington there as artistic director in 2007 but resigned in 2009 after experiencing frustration with management changes at the orchestra. He has continued to conduct; in 2019, he led the Verbier Festival Orchestra in a performance of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major, K. 364, with violist Antoine Tamestit, playing the violin part himself. Kavakos often plays chamber music, and he established his own chamber music festival in Athens, with a master class component. He has also toured and recorded with pianist Emanuel Ax and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, often performing Beethoven's trios. Kavakos has recorded for BIS, Deutsche Grammophon, and most recently Sony Classical, among other labels; his 2022 recording Beethoven for Three, featuring trio versions of Beethoven symphonies, featured Ax and Ma. Many of the concerts he had planned for the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 2020 were canceled due to pandemic restrictions, but he performed major Beethoven concerts for piano trio with Ax and Ma in 2022.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 4 and Op. 97 "Archduke"
Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 15 Mar 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Violin Concertos
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 29 Mar 2024
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" and Op. 1, No. 3
Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 11 Nov 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: The Violin Sonatas
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 31 Mar 2014
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven for Three: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5
Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 4 Mar 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Trifonov Plays Chamber Music (Live)
Daniil Trifonov, Ilya Gringolts, Truls Mørk, Leonidas Kavakos, Gautier Capuçon
Classical - Released by Verbier Festival Gold on 26 Aug 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Apr 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms : The Piano Trios
Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos
Trios - Released by Sony Classical on 15 Sep 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Sei Solo
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 4 Feb 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Op. 61, Septet, Op. 20 & Variations on Folk Songs, Op. 105 & 107
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 18 Oct 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Violin Concerto; Hungarian Dances; Bartók: Rhapsodies
Leonidas Kavakos, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Riccardo Chailly, Peter Nagy
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart Violin Concertos
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 8 May 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra op. 64/Piano Trio No. 1 & 2
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Violin Recital: Kavakos, Leonidas - KROLL, W. / BAZZINI, A. / KREISLER, F. / TCHAIKOVSKY, P. / SCHUBERT, F. / PAGANINI, N. / DEBUSSY, C. (William Kroll - Antonio Bazzini - Fritz Kreisler)
Classical - Released by Delos on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70, TH 118 (Live from Verbier Festival / 2013)
Leonidas Kavakos, Lisa Batiashvili, Antoine Tamestit, Blythe Teh Engstroem, Gautier Capuçon, Stephan Koncz
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 31 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mansurian: Monodia
Kim Kashkashian, Leonidas Kavakos, Jan Garbarek, The Hilliard Ensemble, Münchener Kammerorchester, Christoph Poppen
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 5 Jan 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maurice Ravel / George Enescu
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 6 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 (Original Version and Final Version)
Leonidas Kavakos, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Violin Conderto & Piano Trios
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paganini: 24 Caprices
Classical - Released by Dynamic on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky / Bach
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 1 Feb 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo