MISCHA MAISKY TO GIVE ONLINE PERFORMANCE AND LEAD MASTERCLASS FOR RIGA JURMALA ACADEMY
As part of the Rīga Jūrmala Festival Academy, world-famous cellist and former Rigan Mischa Maisky (1948) will give online masterclasses to young Latvian talents. The masterclass will take place on 8 July at 3pm, and the participants will be cellists from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music: Klāvs Jankevics, Ernests Cīrulis and Tomass Ančs. The masterclass will be moderated by composer, music journalist and critic Edgars Raginskis and will be available for the public to view via the Festival’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rigajurmalaacademy/.
As part of the masterclass, the famous cellist will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1. After this performance, continuing his discussion with the students, Maisky will analyse the nuances of the work performed. He will also evaluate the young cellists’ achievements from their recent masterclasses with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Cellist Lionel Cottet, the recordings of which can be viewed on the Rīga Jūrmala Festival YouTube channel.
“This will not be a traditional masterclass format, but that may make it even more interesting for viewers. We are deeply grateful to the artist who has not only found the time to talk and analyse the students’ performance, but has also agreed to give a short, remote performance which I think will be enjoyed both by our students and viewers,” explains Toms Ostrovskis, Director of the Rīga Jūrmala Academy, JVLMA Associate Professor of Piano and Head of Performing Arts.
Mischa Maisky was born in Riga and is viewed as one of the great cellists of our time. Maisky began studying the cello at the Emīls Dārziņš Music Secondary School, later studying at the Moscow Conservatory under Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky. As a Deutsche Grammophon artist, Maisky has recorded more than 35 albums with such ensembles as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics and others. Maisky’s recordings have achieved critical acclaim worldwide.
Maisky performs at all the most significant international festivals, and has collaborated with Leonard Bernstein, Charles Dutoit, Carlo Maria Giulini, Valery Gergiev, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Daniel Barenboim and other conducting greats. In chamber programmes, he has partnered with Martha Argerich, Evgeny Kissin, Itzhak Perlman, Radu Lupu, Yuri Bashmet, Joshua Bell, Janine Jansen, Gidon Kremer, Julian Rachlin, Vadim Repin and many others.
Maisky also performed in the opening season of the Rīga Jūrmala Festival in 2019 with his daughter, Lily Maisky.
All masterclasses which have already taken place can be viewed again on the Rīga Jūrmala Academy Facebook page.