February 2022

Mischa Maisky & Bach Suites

Cello recital

Repertoire

J.S. BACH: Cello Suite No. 1, BWV 1007
J.S. BACH: Cello Suite No. 4, BWV 1010
J.S. BACH: Cello Suite No. 5, BWV 1011

Performers

Mischa Maisky, cello

Programme notes

The mystery remains: Why did Bach write the six Cello Suites? Where did he get the idea from? No other composer of the time wrote anything like it dedicated to the cello, an instrument that still had a long way to go before it was considered a solo instrument. Why wasn’t it enough to compose just one Suite, or two, or three? He wrote Six! These are not minor works, or research papers, or sporadic notes.

The Cello Suites are majestic, imposing works, created with every detail and dedication, architecturally impeccable. Thanks to Pau Casals’ rediscovery of them at the beginning of the 20th century, any good cellist nowadays plays one of them, but playing three in a single recital is only available to the chosen ones. The greatest difficulty in interpreting these works —except for the technical part— is to understand them in a global, unitary way. The key is to make an interpretive proposal that does not present them in a fragmented way but maintains coherence throughout the entire collection. Mischa Maisky recorded the complete works in 1985 and has since taken a version of it around the world. having just turned 74 years of age, Maisky is a true living legend.

Biography Misha Maisky

Mischa Maisky has the distinction of being the only cellist in the world who has studied with both Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky. He was born in Latvia and educated in Russia, and following his repatriation to Israel, Mischa has been enthusiastically welcomed in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, New York and Tokyo.

As an exclusive artist with the Deutsche Grammophon for more than 30 years, he has made more than 35 recordings with the Vienna, Israel and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchester de Paris, Orpheus and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, among others.

Maisky’s recordings have been critically acclaimed around the world and have been awarded five times by the prestigious Record Academy in Tokyo, three times by the Echo Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, Grand Prix du Disque in Paris and Golden Diapason of the Year, as well as coveted Grammy nominations.

Maisky is truly a world famous musician and a regular guest at most major international festivals. He has collaborated with such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Carlos 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 their collaborations have included artists such 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.