Mischa Maisky – recital

He is the only cellist in the world who studied under both Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky. He talks of himself as “a citizen of the world” explaining that “I play an Italian cello using French and German bows on Austrian and German strings (..), I feel at home everywhere people appreciate and like classical music”. Latvian cellist Mischa Maisky is one of the most unusual personas in the contemporary music world.

Despite his age he still preserves his youthful feistiness, energy and freshness. These are the features which in his youth almost broke his life and musical career, when he was arrested by the soviet authorities and sentences to a labour camp, only later to try to shut him in an asylum. The quoted reason behind this was the purchase of a tape recorder with foreign currency in a shop for foreigners, however, the real reason was quite different – the emigration of his sister to Israel.

Recording only for Deutsche Grammophon, he has released over 30 albums over the last 25 years, with such orchestras as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the London Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and Orchestre de Paris.

Supposedly, a journalist once asked him: “Why don’t you play contemporary music?” Maisky answered: “Why? What about Bach?”. The musician devoted the year 2000 to this composer by taking part in a world tour with a Bach repertoire, during which he played over 100 concerts. To show his great admiration for the great composer, Maisky has recorded the “Solo Suites” for the third time. And these will ring out during his Szczecin recital.