Mischa Maisky

Advisory Committee, MUSIC FESTIVAL Argerich’ s Meeting Point in Beppu

Mischa Maisky has the distinction of being the only cellist in the world to have studied with both Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky.
Born in Latvia, educated in Russia, then immigrated to Israel, Mischa Maisky has been enthusiastically received in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, New York and Tokyo, along with the rest of the major music centers.
Maisky considers himself a citizen of the world: “I’m playing an Italian cello, with Austrian and German strings, French and German bows, my eldest daughter was born in France, my eldest son in Belgium, the second one in Italy and the third one in Switzerland, and now I have six children. I’m driving an American car, wear a Swiss watch, an Indian necklace and I feel at home everywhere people appreciate and enjoy classical music.”
As an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, Maisky has made well over 40 recordings since 1985 with such orchestras as the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and others.
One of the highlights in Maisky’s career was the year 2000 – it was mainly devoted to a world-wide Bach tour which included over 100 concerts. In order to express his deep admiration for this great composer, he has recorded Bach’s Solo Suites for the third time.
Maisky’s recordings have enjoyed world-wide critical acclaim and have been awarded five times the prestigious Record Academy Prize in Tokyo, three times Echo Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, Grand Prix du Disque in Paris and Diapason d’Or of the Year as well as the coveted Grammy nominations.
Truly a world-class musician and regular guest in most major international festivals, Maisky collaborated with such prominent conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Charles Dutoit, Carlo Maria Giulini, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, James Levine, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Giuseppe Sinopoli, and Daniel Barenboim, and his partnerships with the world’s top artists have included such artists as Martha Argerich, Radu Lupu, Nelson Freire, Evgeny Kissin, Lang Lang, Peter Serkin, Yuja Wang, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Joshua Bell, Julian Rachlin and Janine Jansen to name just a few.

Maisky has visited Japan almost every year since 1986, and in May 2023 he is to make his 54th visit to Japan.

Maisky plays a 1720 Montagnana cello presented by a philanthropist when he made his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1973.