J.S. Bach – Goldberg Variations for String Trio, BWV 988 (Transcription by Dmitry Sitkovetsky)
Germany, 1985:
Violin virtuoso
Dmitry Sitkovetsky plays his own arrangement for string trio of
Bach's Goldberg Variations, with
Gerard Caussé (viola) and
Mischa Maisky ('cello).
Dmitry Sitkovetsky was born in
Baku, Azerbaijan, to violinist
Julian Sitkovetsky and pianist
Bella Davidovich. His father died in
1958, when Sitkovetsky was just three years old and the family moved to
Moscow where Dmitry entered the prestigious
Moscow Conservatory. In
1977, aged twenty-two, he decided to leave the
Soviet Union. In order to do this, he registered himself as mentally ill. Fortunately his plan worked and Dmitry arrived in
New York City on
September 11, 1977, where he immediately began studying at the
Juilliard School. Dmitry Sitkovetsky has built up a successful career as a violinist, conductor, arranger, chamber musician and festival director.
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, he grew up in Moscow studying at the Moscow Conservatory and after his emigration in 1977, at the Juilliard School in
New York. Sitkovetsky has performed as a soloist with a number of the world's leading orchestras including the
Berlin, New York and
LA Philharmonic Orchestras,
Leipzig Gewandhaus,
Concertgebouw Orchestra, all of the major
London orchestras,
NHK,
Chicago,
Philadelphia and
Cleveland orchestras
. [...] Sitkovetsky also has a flourishing career as a conductor. In
1996, he was appointed principal conductor and artistic advisor of the
Ulster Orchestra for five years, in
2001, was appointed conductor laureate, and from 2002-2005 held the position of principal guest conductor of the
Russian State Orchestra. [...] Sitkovetsky is also the founding director of the
New European Strings Chamber Orchestra (
NES CO), established in
1990, which is composed of distinguished string players from Eastern &
Western Europe. Since his successful transcription of
Bach’s Goldberg Variations for string trio, he has transcribed more than 30 works mostly for string orchestra by
Bach,
Haydn,
Beethoven,
Brahms,
Dohnanyi,
Bartók,
Tchaikovsky,
Shostakovich,
Stravinsky and
Schnittke. He has been a member of
ASCAP since
1985 and his transcriptions are published by Doblinger, Sikorski and Schirmer. [...] Since
1987 he has resided in London with his wife,
Susan, and their daughter,
Julia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Sitkovetsky
Gérard Caussé, born 1948, is a
French violist. He gave the first performance of the celebrated
Ainsi la nuit quartet by
Henri Dutilleux. The first movement of
Gérard Grisey's celebrated work, Les Espaces
Acoustiques ("
Prologue"), is inscribed "à Gérard Caussé." His discography amounts to thirty recordings. Gerard Caussé plays a viola made by
Gasparo da Salo in 1560. Caussé has shared the stage in both orchestral and chamber music with musicians such as
Emmanuel Krivine,
Charles Dutoit, and
Kent Nagano. His recordings include more than thirty-five issued under labels such as
EMI,
Erato and
Philips. Caussé is holder of the
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Chair of
Viola at the Escuela
Superior de Música
Reina Sofía.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9rard_Causs%C3%A9
Maisky began studies at the
Leningrad Conservatory and later with
Mstislav Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatory whilst pursuing a concert career throughout the Soviet Union. In 1966 he won 6th Prize at the Moscow
International Tchaikovsky Competition. While his debut, at 17, with the
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra earned him the nickname "
Rostropovich of the future", it was in 1966, as prize-winner of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition, that he really started getting noticed. He entered the famous Moscow Conservatory to study with Rostropovich and was quickly taken under the great musician's wing. He emigrated to
Israel in
1971, where he holds citizenship. He also studied for a time with
Gregor Piatigorsky in
Los Angeles. He currently lives in
Belgium. In his performing and recording career, Maisky has worked in long-standing partnerships with artists such as the pianists
Martha Argerich,
Radu Lupu, and
Sergio Tiempo, the violinists
Gidon Kremer and
Janine Jansen, and the conductors
Leonard Bernstein,
Zubin Mehta,
Vladimir Ashkenazy,
Daniel Barenboim, and
Giuseppe Sinopoli. Maisky's friendship with Argerich has led to many performances together, such as the world premiere of Shchedrin’s double concerto
Romantic Offering in
2011 in
Lucerne, Switzerland. As a
Deutsche Grammophon artist during the last 25 years, he has made over 50 recordings, including many with such orchestras as the
Vienna Philharmonic,
Berlin Philharmonic,
London Symphony Orchestra,
Israel Philharmonic,
Orchestre de Paris,
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and
Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Mischa Maisky has the distinction of being the only cellist in the world to have studied with both Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mischa_Maisky