Vladimir Teodorovich Spivakov (Vladimir Spivakov).
Vladimir Spivakov
By the time he completed his studies at the Moscow Conservatory in 1967 in the class of Professor Y. Yankelevich, Vladimir Spivakov had already become a promising violin soloist, whose skill was recognized by a number of prizes and honorary titles at international competitions.
At the age of thirteen, Vladimir Spivakov received first prize at the White Nights competition in Leningrad and made his debut as a solo violinist on the stage of the Great Hall of the Leningrad Conservatory. Then the violinist’s talent was awarded awards at prestigious international competitions: named after M. Long and J. Thibaut in Paris (1965), named after Paganini in Genoa (1967), a competition in Montreal (1969, first prize) and a competition named after P. I. Tchaikovsky in Moscow (1970, second prize).
In 1975, after the triumphant solo performances of Vladimir Spivakov in the USA, his brilliant international career begins. Maestro Spivakov repeatedly performs as a soloist with the best symphony orchestras in the world, including the Philharmonic Orchestras of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Vienna, London and New York, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Paris, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and management of outstanding conductors of our time: E. Mravinsky, E. Svetlanov, Y. Temirkanov, M. Rostropovich, L. Bernstein, S. Ozawa, L. Maazel, K. M. Giulini, R. Muti, C. Abbado and others.
Critics of the leading musical powers of the world rank deep penetration into the author’s intention, richness, beauty and volume of sound, subtle nuances, emotional impact on the audience, vivid artistry, and intelligence among the features of Spivakov’s performing style. Vladimir Spivakov himself believes that if listeners find the above-mentioned advantages in his playing, it is primarily due to the school of his famous teacher, Professor Yuri Yankelevich, and the creative influence of his second teacher and idol, the greatest violinist of the XNUMXth century, David Oistrakh.
Until 1997, Vladimir Spivakov played the violin by master Francesco Gobetti, presented to him by Professor Yankelevich. Since 1997, the maestro has been playing an instrument made by Antonio Stradivari, which was given to him for life use by patrons – admirers of his talent.
In 1979, Vladimir Spivakov, with a group of like-minded musicians, created the Moscow Virtuosos chamber orchestra and became its permanent artistic director, chief conductor and soloist. The birth of the group was preceded by serious and long-term preparatory work and training in conducting skills by the famous professor Israel Gusman in Russia and the great conductors Lorin Maazel and Leonard Bernstein in the USA. Upon completion of his studies, Bernstein presented Spivakov with his conductor’s baton, thereby symbolically blessing him as an aspiring but promising conductor. Maestro Spivakov has not parted with this gift to this day.
Shortly after its creation, the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra, largely due to the outstanding role of Vladimir Spivakov, received wide recognition from specialists and the public and became one of the best chamber orchestras in the world. The Moscow Virtuosos, led by Vladimir Spivakov, tour in almost all major cities of the former USSR; repeatedly go on tour in Europe, the USA and Japan; take part in the most famous international music festivals, including Salzburg, Edinburgh, the Florentine Musical May festival, festivals in New York, Tokyo and Colmar.
In parallel with solo performing activities, Spivakov’s career as a conductor of a symphony orchestra is also successfully developing. He performs in the world’s largest concert halls with leading orchestras, including the London, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Budapest Symphony Orchestras; orchestras of the theater “La Scala” and the academy “Santa Cecilia”, orchestras of the Cologne Philharmonic and French Radio, the best Russian orchestras.
The extensive discography of Vladimir Spivakov as a soloist and conductor includes over 40 CDs with recordings of musical works of various styles and eras: from European baroque music to works by composers of the XNUMXth century – Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Penderetsky, Schnittke, Pyart, Kancheli, Shchedrin and Gubaidulina . Most of the recordings were made by the musician on the BMG Classics record company.
In 1989, Vladimir Spivakov created the International Music Festival in Colmar (France), of which he has been the permanent musical director to this day. Over the past years, many outstanding musical groups have performed at the festival, including the best Russian orchestras and choirs; as well as such outstanding artists as Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin, Evgeny Svetlanov, Krzysztof Penderecki, Jose van Dam, Robert Hall, Christian Zimmerman, Michel Plasson, Evgeny Kissin, Vadim Repin, Nikolai Lugansky, Vladimir Krainev…
Since 1989, Vladimir Spivakov has been a jury member of famous international competitions (in Paris, Genoa, London, Montreal) and President of the Sarasate Violin Competition in Spain. Since 1994, Vladimir Spivakov has been taking over from N. Milstein in holding annual master classes in Zurich. Since the foundation of the Charitable Foundation and the Triumph Independent Prize, Vladimir Spivakov has been a permanent member of the jury that awards awards from this foundation. In recent years, Maestro Spivakov annually takes part in the work of the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) as a UNESCO Ambassador.
For many years, Vladimir Spivakov has been purposefully engaged in active social and charitable activities. Together with the Moscow Virtuosos orchestra, he gives concerts in Armenia immediately after the terrible earthquake of 1988; performing in Ukraine three days after the Chernobyl disaster; he held numerous concerts for former prisoners of the Stalinist camps, hundreds of charity concerts throughout the former Soviet Union.
In 1994, the Vladimir Spivakov International Charitable Foundation was established, whose activities are aimed at fulfilling both humanitarian and creative and educational tasks: improving the situation of orphans and helping sick children, creating conditions for the creative development of young talents – the purchase of musical instruments, the allocation of scholarships and grants, the participation of the most talented musicians of childhood and youth in concerts of the Moscow Virtuosi orchestra, the organization of international art exhibitions with the participation of works by young artists, and much more. Over the years of its existence, the Foundation has provided concrete and effective assistance to hundreds of children and young talents in the amount of several hundred thousand dollars.
Vladimir Spivakov was awarded the title People’s Artist of the USSR (1990), the State Prize of the USSR (1989) and the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1993). In 1994, in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the musician, the Russian Center for Space Research named one of the minor planets after him – “Spivakov”. In 1996, the artist was awarded the Order of Merit, III degree (Ukraine). In 1999, for his contribution to the development of world musical culture, Vladimir Spivakov was awarded the highest state awards of a number of countries: the Order of the Officer of Arts and Belle Literature (France), the Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots (Armenia), the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree (Russia) . In 2000, the musician was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor (France). In May 2002, Vladimir Spivakov was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Since September 1999, along with the leadership of the Moscow Virtuosos State Chamber Orchestra, Vladimir Spivakov has become the artistic director and chief conductor of the Russian National Orchestra, and in January 2003, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia.
Since April 2003 Vladimir Spivakov has been President of the Moscow International House of Music.
Source: official website of Vladimir Spivakov Photo by Christian Steiner
