Yuri Bashmet is a Russian violist and conductor. Biography, creativity, awards

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The hero of our article today is Yuri Bashmet, a world-famous musician, whom only the lazy have not heard of. Honorary Academician of the London Academy of Arts, holder of several orders - he always wears black and is very fond of the word "ambition". He loves life and loves what he does. How his creative path developed, who he is and what he dreams about - this is our story.

Who is he?

Yuri Bashmet is a person who needs no special introduction. A world-famous musician and conductor - incredibly talented, lively, multifaceted - this man forever inscribed his name in the history of classical music of the 20th century. Bashmet - People's Artist of the USSR; Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR and four State Prizes of the Russian Federation; and he is a patriot, a patriot of Russia. And it is doubly pleasant when such gifted people do not change their principles for money, but try to do a lot (whatever they can) for their country; the country in which their descendants will live. After all, someone has to do it.

He loves black in clothes and believes that you need to be consistent in everything. Claims that betrayal and failure to fulfill obligations given to someone is a pure crime.

You can talk about him for a long and exciting time. Bashmet's biography is multifaceted, and life is so full and varied that it is very difficult to cover all areas of his activity. We will only touch on the facts from his personal history.

Biography Facts

Bashmet Yuri Abramovich was born in Russia, in the city of Rostov-on-Don, in January 1953. His parents are representatives of the Jewish nation. In 1958 the family moved to Lvov. The fact is that the father of the future musician, Bashmet Abram Borisovich, a railway engineer, was transferred to the territory of the Ukrainian SSR on duty.

I must say that there were no professional musicians in the family, but music was always welcome there, it was the main guest at any feast. Yura has been fond of this field of art since childhood, and his father, along with grandparents, has always supported this hobby.

Music has become an integral part of the weekly pastime of young Yuri Bashmet thanks to his mother, Krichever Maya Zinovievna. A woman, out of fear that her son, in a difficult adolescence, might contact bad company and go the wrong way, sent the boy to a music school. According to Maya Zinovievna, the constant study of musical notation in a music school should have somehow organized a teenager so that he would not havetime for all sorts of nonsense.

Why viola?

If the circumstances were different, the violinist Yuri Bashmet would be known to the world. However, when Yura, together with his mother, came to the Lviv Secondary Special Music School, there were no places to study violin. Maya Zinovievna was offered to give the child to viola.

Of course, at that time the viola did not have such popularity and fame as the violin. Many believed that only losers who were weeded out of violin lessons studied in the viola class. In addition, the musical instrument is much larger than its relative, and in order to extract sounds from it, strong, enduring hands are needed.

Yury Bashmet's parents were very alarmed by this fact, but the guy himself, on the contrary, was pleased. The fact is that a friend of the young man sang to his friend that the viola does not require such a huge return in training as the violin. And this is a great chance to devote more time to playing the guitar. At that time, Yura, like many of his contemporaries, was heard by the idols of the then youth - the Beatles, whose members were musical gods - they imitated, they were equal to.

But it should be said that this fact in the biography of young Bashmet turned out to be fateful. He liked the sound of the viola so much that the lessons on this musical instrument carried the young man seriously. After some time, he became the winner of the republican music competition in Kyiv.

First steps to success

I must say that in general, only thanks to Bashmet, the viola became sopopular and famous. This musician brought the instrument to a new level and forever inscribed his name in the history of classical music. However, the world fame of Yuri Bashmet was preceded by hard work - on technique, on performance and on himself.

After music school, Bashmet entered the Moscow Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1976. Since that time, his active musical activity began, in parallel with which there was an internship and training in the assistantship of the same Moscow Conservatory.

The year 1976 is considered a landmark in the career of a musician - Bashmet won the International Viola Competition in Germany. He won the competition and went on a tour of the cities of the country. By the way, the competition was organized with the support of the radio and television of Bavaria, and this undoubtedly played a leading role in the fact that the musician instantly became famous.

There is a very interesting fact in the biography of the maestro: Yuri Bashmet's instrument, which he plays from 1972 to the present day, is the work of the famous master Paolo Testore, created back in the middle of the 18th century. And it was Bashmet who was the first violist in more than 200 years who was entrusted to play Mozart in Salzburg, Germany, on the viola.

Conductor activities

In addition to world recognition as a musician, Bashmet has also achieved fame as an orchestra conductor. His debut in this role took place in 1985 purely by accident. A music festival was held in the French city of Tours, and for insurmountable reasons, Bashmet's close friend Valery Gergiev could not attend. Yuri Abramovichasked for help in resolving this situation - he was persuaded to stand at the conductor's stand. It turned out - not in vain. Bashmet liked it so much that he, in his own words, just fell ill with this business.

In the same 1985, Yuri Abramovich created his own chamber orchestra called the Moscow Soloists. However, the first composition of this musical organism did not last long - until 1991. It so happened that the maestro returned to Moscow from a tour of France alone - Yuri Bashmet's orchestra fell apart. All orchestra members decided to leave their homeland and stay abroad. It was a difficult situation for the musician - life tested him for strength. However, he survived and a year later he assembled a new line-up of the Moscow Soloists.

Creative biography

To this day, conductor Yuri Bashmet is touring with the Moscow Soloists orchestra around the globe. Over the years of concert activity, the musicians have circumnavigated the globe at least 30 times.

In 1996, Yuri Bashmet organized and headed the Experimental Viola Department. At first, it was scary to rush headlong into this adventurous idea. The department was conceived for those students who differed from the classical graduate of the conservatory. Maybe with a slightly weaker playing technique, but with no less charisma and personality. However, everything worked out.

Today, Yuri Abramovich is an assistant professor and teaches at the Moscow Conservatory. He also conducts master classes in various cities of Russia and abroad.

In addition, underBashmet's leadership is the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra. Maestro is the artistic director and chief conductor of the orchestra. In parallel with his leadership activities, Yuri Abramovich is pursuing a solo career, participating in chamber programs.

And he also has enough time to be directly involved in the organization of festivals in the French Tour and the Italian Elba.

Among other things, from 1998 to this day, the maestro has been the artistic director of the December Evenings festival. It is Yuri Bashmet who deals with all creative and organizational issues.

Family

Bashmet is married. His wife, Natalya Timofeevna, is a colleague in the music department. Many years ago, young people studied together at the violin department at the Moscow Conservatory and met at a party in the hostel.

Yuri immediately drew attention to the pretty girl, but Natalia was in no hurry to show her feelings. However, later I realized that the young man is a real man who you can rely on, and accepted a marriage proposal from Yuri. Young people decided to unite their destinies as fifth year students.

Yuri Abramovich Bashmet and his wife Natalya Timofeevna have two children - son Alexander and daughter Ksenia.

Ksenia followed in the footsteps of her parents and became a good pianist, she was interested in classical music. Bashmet admits that he is proud of the success of his daughter. However, initially he did not think to instill this profession in his children. In his opinion,this is a very difficult speci alty.

Everything was decided by chance. When the girl was five years old, she was sent to Lviv for the summer to her grandmother, who, together with her older brother Yuri Bashmet, instilled in Ksyusha a hearing. She returned home with a we alth of knowledge.

Bashmet's son did not follow the musical path of his father. He plays the flute and piano well, draws talentedly, classical music is close to him, but the guy is studying at the Faculty of Economics.

About the man Yuri Bashmet

Yuri Bashmet, whose biography of creative activity is striking in its scale, loves not only to work, but also to have a good rest. He considers reading to be the best rest for the soul - he loves to read a lot. Yuri Abramovich admits that a book can captivate him so much that he sometimes forgets about sleep and bodily food.

Bashmet enjoys physical pleasure by playing billiards. Do not mind the maestro and tease fortune - he is a frequent guest at the casino.

Bashmet is a rather sociable person, communication gives him real pleasure. The doors of the Bashmet family house are always open for guests. By the way, one of Yuri Abramovich's favorite holidays is the New Year. The musician prefers to celebrate it not in a restaurant and not in a noisy city in principle, but in secluded silence in the circle of relatives and friends - in the country. Among his friends there are more representatives of the acting environment. The musician frankly says that in his element it is more difficult for him to communicate with people.

Bashmet loves his Motherland. He does not change Russia. And although on duty he has to travel to various countries in whichhe has favorite cities, his heart is still torn here, home. The maestro frankly declares that only in the halls of Russian cities there is a special atmosphere that does not exist anywhere else.

Charity

Bashmet Yuri Abramovich is a whole person. As noted earlier, he tries to be consistent in everything, does not recognize betrayal. The musician really helps those who need help and whom he can really help. And not always these are material means.

In 1994, the maestro founded and headed the Yuri Bashmet International Charitable Foundation. Some time later, the foundation established the International Prize. D. Shostakovich "for outstanding achievements in the field of world art."

According to Yuri Abramovich, of course, it is impossible to help everyone. But targeted - under the force, the main thing would be the desire.

Here he is, Yuri Bashmet, great and incredibly talented, distant and so close, his own and real.