Gidon Kremer
“This iconoclastic soloist has always had a fierce independent streak in his music-making, his choice of repertoire, his stage presence, and the musical company he keeps.”
– Jeremy Eichler, Boston Globe
Gidon Kremer was born into a musical family in Riga, Latvia, in 1947 and took up the violin at the age of four. Aged eighteen, he began his studies with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory and then launched a dazzling solo career by winning first prize in both the Paganini and Tchaikovsky International Competitions while still in his early twenties.
Kremer’s repertoire is unusually broad, encompassing all the standard classical and romantic works, but he has also been a tireless champion of modern and contemporary music, in particular from Russia and Eastern Europe. Among the long and diverse [...]
“This iconoclastic soloist has always had a fierce independent streak in his music-making, his choice of repertoire, his stage presence, and the musical company he keeps.”
– Jeremy Eichler, Boston Globe
Gidon Kremer was born into a musical family in Riga, Latvia, in 1947 and took up the violin at the age of four. Aged eighteen, he began his studies with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory and then launched a dazzling solo career by winning first prize in both the Paganini and Tchaikovsky International Competitions while still in his early twenties.
Kremer’s repertoire is unusually broad, encompassing all the standard classical and romantic works, but he has also been a tireless champion of modern and contemporary music, in particular from Russia and Eastern Europe. Among the long and diverse list of composers with whom he has been associated (often as dedicatee of new works) are Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, Giya Kancheli, Sofia Gubaidulina, Valentin Silvestrov, Luigi Nono, Aribert Reimann, Peteris Vasks, John Adams and Victor Kissine.
Gidon Kremer’s relationship with ECM dates back to the now legendary album “Tabula Rasa” (1984), which introduced many to the music of Arvo Pärt. A host of other acclaimed recordings have followed since, including Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin, which Kremer has referred to as “the Himalayas” of the violin literature, the violinist’s Old Testament.
In 1981 Kremer founded the intimate Lockenhaus chamber music festival that took place every summer in Austria for 30 years, highlights of which are available in a 5-CD ECM box set. In 1997, he set up the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra to foster outstanding young musicians from the three Baltic States, a collaboration which has also yielded ECM recordings, including music by Schubert, Mahler, Shostakovich, and Weinberg.
In 2011 Gidon Kremer was awarded the "Una Vita Nella Musica – Artur Rubinstein" Prize (Venice).
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| YEAR | DATE | Artist | VENUE | LOCATION | |
| 2023 | June 27 |
Gidon Kremer / Kremerata Baltica
Portraitkonzert |
Elbphilharmonie | Hamburg, Germany | Event |