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, Ludwig van Beethoven
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 15 mar 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Violin Concertos
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 29 mar 2024
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" and Op. 1, No. 3
Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax, Ludwig van Beethoven
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 11 nov 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: The Violin Sonatas
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 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, Ludwig van Beethoven
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 4 mar 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Trifonov Plays Chamber Music (Live)
Daniil Trifonov, Ilya Gringolts, Truls Mørk, Leonidas Kavakos, Gautier Capuçon
Classica - Pubblicato da Verbier Festival Gold il 26 ago 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 1 apr 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms : The Piano Trios
Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos
Trii - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 15 set 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Sei Solo
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 4 feb 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Op. 61, Septet, Op. 20 & Variations on Folk Songs, Op. 105 & 107
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 18 ott 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Violin Concerto; Hungarian Dances; Bartók: Rhapsodies
Leonidas Kavakos, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Riccardo Chailly, Peter Nagy
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 gen 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart Violin Concertos
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 8 mag 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra op. 64/Piano Trio No. 1 & 2
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 1 gen 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)
Classica - Pubblicato da Delos il 1 gen 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
Classica - Pubblicato da Deutsche Grammophon (DG) il 31 lug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mansurian: Monodia
Kim Kashkashian, Leonidas Kavakos, Jan Garbarek, The Hilliard Ensemble, Münchener Kammerorchester, Christoph Poppen
Classica - Pubblicato da ECM New Series il 5 gen 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maurice Ravel / George Enescu
Classica - Pubblicato da ECM New Series il 6 gen 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
Classica - Pubblicato da BIS il 1 gen 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Violin Conderto & Piano Trios
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical il 1 gen 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paganini: 24 Caprices
Classica - Pubblicato da Dynamic il 1 gen 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky / Bach
Classica - Pubblicato da ECM New Series il 1 feb 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo