Yuri Bashmet
Yuri Bashmet developed a highly successful international career as a violist, but then, like so many talented instrumentalists of his generation, branched out into conducting, even founding an orchestra. He has never abandoned the viola, managing to split his time in even portions between soloist and conductor, often appearing in both roles in the same concert. He has performed with the world's leading orchestras, including those in Moscow, Berlin, Paris, New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and many other locales. He has also collaborated as soloist and conductor with some of the most celebrated string players of his time, including Rostropovich, Stern, Kremer, Mutter, and Mintz, as well as with keyboard legends like Richter and Argerich. For all his talent, Bashmet has been surrounded by controversy in the latter half of his career, owing to last-minute cancellations and sudden changes in concert programs. Yet he remains arguably the leading violist of his time and a powerful champion of contemporary music: indeed, a spate of major composers wrote works for him, including Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, Giya Kancheli, Poul Ruders, John Taverner, and Mark-Anthony Turnage. Bashmet has made numerous recordings for a variety of mostly major labels, including Melodiya, DG, EMI, RCA, Sony, Onyx, and Toccata Classics.
Yuri Bashmet was born on January 24, 1953, in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. He studied piano, then violin in his childhood. At 14 he took up the viola while also dabbling in rock music as a guitarist. He studied viola at the Moscow Conservatory with Vadim Borisovsky and Fedor Druzhinin.
After a second-prize finish at the 1975 Budapest International Competition, he captured first prize the following year at the Munich ARD Competition. In the wake of his victory, Bashmet became an international star, despite initial sanctions against travel abroad by Soviet authorities.
Bashmet took up conducting in 1985 and the following year founded the Moscow Soloists, a chamber orchestra that quickly developed a wide following. In 1992 he re-founded the ensemble when the original members decided to set their base of operations in France. In 1996 Bashmet became a professor of music at Moscow Conservatory, where he had taught since 1978.
Bashmet was appointed music director and chief conductor of the Russian Symphony Orchestra ("New Russia") in 2002. Among Bashmet's recordings is the 2008 Onyx CD of short works for viola and piano by Marais, Benda, Rameau, Brahms, and Prokofiev.
© TiVo
Similar artists
-
Brahms: Klavierquartett Op. 25 – Schumann: Fantasiestücke Op. 88
Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Mischa Maisky
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2002
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Kancheli: Styx / Gubaidulina: Viola Concerto
Yuri Bashmet, Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sviatoslav Richter - The Teldec Recordings
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on Feb 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete RCA Recordings
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on Apr 15, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert/Schumann/Bruch/Enescu
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on Jul 9, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Viola Concerto / Bruch: Concerto for Violin & Viola
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music for Viola and Piano
Yuri Bashmet, Sviatoslav Richter
Classical - Released by Musical Concepts on Jul 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hindemith & Shostakovich: Viola Sonatas
Yuri Bashmet, Sviatoslav Richter
Classical - Released by Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica on Jan 1, 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Violin Sonata; Viola Sonata - orchestrated
Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Kremerata Baltica
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sonatas For Viola & Piano, Op. 120 / Two Songs, Op. 91
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schnittke: Viola & Cello (No.1) Concertos
Yuri Bashmet, Natalia Gutman, USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Classical - Released by Musical Concepts on Jan 22, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Viola Concerto / Bruch: Concerto for Violin & Viola
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Keyboard Concerto, BWV 1052 - Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 - Schnittke: Concerto for Piano & String Orchestra
Ksenia Bashmet, Moscow Soloists, Yuri Bashmet
Classical - Released by Quartz Music on Jan 1, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Reminiscences
Classical - Released by Onyx Classics on Jul 28, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B Minor - Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Minor
Yuri Bashmet, The Moscow Soloists
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Oct 13, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kancheli: Mourned by the Wind
Yuri Bashmet, Jansug Kakhidze, Georgian State Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by JSC Firma Melodiya on Jan 1, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schnittke: Concerto for Three, String Trio & Minuet (Live)
Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Mstislav Rostropovich, Moscow Soloists
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Nisi Dominus/Pergolesi: Stabat Mater
Vyacheslav Kagan-Palei, Alexei Semenov, Oleg Ryabets, Yuri Bashmet
Classical - Released by JSC Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica on Jan 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Suite
Moscow Soloists, Elena Revich, Yuri Bashmet, Igor Butman
Classical - Released by Toccata Classics on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sonatas For Viola & Piano, Op. 120 / Two Songs, Op. 91
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Klavierquartett, Op.25 / Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op.88
Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Mischa Maisky
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo