World-famous violinist marks his birthday in Baku

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

World-famous violinist Gidon Kremer will celebrate his 75th birthday with a spectacular concert at Heydar Aliyev Center.

Together with the famous maestro, renowned violinist Madara Petersone (Latvia) and the Baku Chamber Orchestra performed on the stage under the baton of the Honored Artist of Azerbaijan Fuad Ibrahimov. The event was organized by Premier LTD.

Renowned violinist thrilled the audience with music pieces by Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Benjamin Britten, Gia Kancheli, Khayyam Mirzazade as well as  modern violin music.

The concert aroused great interest among listeners. The violinist was greeted with a storm of applause. 

Driven by his strikingly uncompromising artistic philosophy, Gidon Kremer has established a worldwide reputation as one of his generation's most original and compelling artists.

His wide repertoire encompasses standard classical scores and music by leading 20-21st  century composers.

It is fair to say that no other soloist of comparable international stature has done more to promote the cause of contemporary composers and new music for violin.

His name is closely associated with such composers as Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Part, Giya Kancheli, Sofia Gubaidulina, Valentin Silvestrov, Luigi Nono, Edison Denisov, Aribert Reimann, Peteris Vasks, John Adams, Victor Kissine, Michael Nyman, Philip Glass. Many of them dedicated their works to him, the first performer of which was usually the Maestro himself.

As an international violinist, he performs with the greatest orchestras and the most prestigious conductors, such as Leonard Bernstein, Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Herbert von Karajan, Nikolaus Arnoncourt or Seiji Ozawa.

In 1997 Gidon Kremer founded the chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica to gather outstanding young musicians from the Baltic States. During its existence, the orchestra has toured to more than 50 countries.

Together the ensemble performed such outstanding performers of our time as Jesse Norman, Mikhail Pletnev, Thomas Zeitmeier, Yo-Yo Ma and many others.

The musicians recorded over 50 CDs, for one of which in 2002 the orchestra was awarded two prestigious prizes - GRAMMY and ECHO.

Gidon Kremer has recorded over 120 albums, many of which have received prestigious international awards such as Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis, the Bundesverdienstkreuz, Moscow's Triumph Prize, the Unesco Prize and the Una Vita Nella Musica – Artur Rubinstein Prize.

In addition, in 2016, the Emperor of Japan awarded him the Imperial Praemium Prize, equivalent to the Nobel Prize in the music.

This year is also marked by the 25th anniversary of the Kremerata Baltica orchestra, founded by Gidon Kremer.

Cultural figures will celebrate their double anniversary with numerous concerts in the cities of Canada, America, Europe, Asia.

Media partners of the event  are Azernews.az, Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az.