Born in Rostov-on-Don in 1953, Bashmet grew up in Lvov in the Ukraine, where - like so many others - he took up the violin at the behest of his mother, although he actually preferred the guitar! In the 60s it was a new sound that was energising the youth of the east just as it was in the west, and Bashmet remains enthusiastic about the Beatles and, more at a distance, Jimmy Hendrix.
I started on the violin - I was at music school playing the violin and that was for my mum. But it was at the time of The Beatles and I played the guitar for myself. It was the fashion, but because I knew music grammar, I was better than those from the street who didn't know. Then the music of Jimmy Hendrix arrived, jazz rock from Chicago, but at that time I didn't understand Hendrix's style - it was not my style, as you can understand that for one who liked The Beatles! I like jazz rock very much, but it was not possible to manage with our tradition and instruments and also players, although we tried!
Bashmet went on to win a young musicians' competition in the Ukraine on the violin. The change to viola came soon after, a purely pragmatic decision, as suggested by a friend: "You would make a talented viola player - you would need much less time to practise, because if you continue with your violin you will need five, six, seven hours of practice a day; with the viola you will need much less time, and then you will have more time for your guitar!"
Thus - even though he was one of the top three violinists at the time in the school - Bashmet broke against a tradition at music college, which had always regarded viola as second best (a view Bashmet would meet, and defeat, across his early career). And yet, he was still more interested in the guitar!
Bashmet moved to the Moscow Conservatoire in 1971, where he studied first with Vadim Borisovsky, violist of the Beethoven Quartet and later, Feodor Druzhinin. It was only then that the idea of becoming a violist, as opposed to a guitarist, began to take firm shape. For the record, Bashmet last took up the guitar - rather "primitively" he remembers - at a broadcast concert a few years back where he also accompanied a jazz singer on the piano and, in the second half, conducted Mozart's Requiem!
Knuckling down to practise, Bashmet's studies inevitably led to competitions. The first major international competition was in Budapest in 1975, at which he (bizarrely) was only awarded second prize. That spurred him on to practise harder, and in 1976 all the effort paid off with his taking first prize at the Munich International Viola Competition, at which in the final concert he played Belá Bartók's Viola Concerto, conducted by Rafael Kubelik.
Returning home victorious, you might have thought all of Moscow's musical doors would have been flung open, but Bashmet found continuing resistance to the viola as a solo instrument, despite his efforts after Budapest to arrange as many concerts as possible. He comments, ironically:
I had already played in the Residenz in Munich, the Concertgebouw, the Musikverein, Tokyo's Suntory Hall, La Scala and Paris before I was able to play a recital in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire. There was only one major hall that came after Moscow, and that was Carnegie Hall.
It is worth pointing out that in these 'western' venues, he was the first to play a solo viola recital.
As the world's leading viola player (technically 'violist'), Yuri Bashmet has, over the last 25 years, performed as a soloist with all the major orchestras. He has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras. In the UK he has performed with all the major London orchestras and made several appearances at the BBC Proms.
Whilst he is a frequent performer throught Europe - Paris, Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin, Milan, Brussels and Madrid - he also travels frequently to Japan, America and Australia. Recent visits to the Far East included appearances as both soloist and conductor with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.
Bashmet has a particular collaboration with Anne-Sophie Mutter. He has appeared with Mutter in her complete Mozart Violin Concerto project, joining her for the sublime Sinfonia concertante in E flat K364 with such orchestras as the London Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and Camerata Salzburg. He praises her ability to create so many colours in her playing and together they have performed the work throughout Europe. Their recording for this work has been released on CD by Deutsche Grammophon, with a DVD in the pipeline. Other starry collaborators include the likes of Igor Oistrakh, Isaac Stern and Gidon Kremer (at the recent Mozart celebrations in Salzburg).
Since his appointment as Chief Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of New Russia in 2002, Bashmet has systematically expanded his symphonic repertoire, as well as his commitments as guest conductor with symphony orchestras in Europe, Japan and the Far East and North America.
His conducting activities include appearances with orchestras including Tokyo Philharmonic, Kansai Philharmonic, Auckland Symphony Orchestra, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Tapiola Sinfonietta, UBS Festival Chamber Orcehstra, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Orchestra Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Dresden Philharmonic, Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi Milan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Symphony Orchestra of New Russia (Novaya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra) was founded in 1990. In 2002 Yuri Bashmet was appointed Director of the orchestra, opening a new chapter in its history. He brings to the orchestra his own inimitable manner of interpretation, and thus every concert evokes the feeling that the music is being created anew before the very eyes and ears of the audience.
Appearing with the orchestra are such eminent musicians as Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Barry Douglas, Peter Donohoe, Boris Berezovsky, Viktor Tretiakov and Natalia Gutman.
The Symphony Orchestra of New Russia is a frequent guest at festivals in Russia and abroad, including the Moscow Easter Festival, the Alfred Schnittke Festival in Moscow, the Besançon Festival in France, the Athens Festival in Greece and the Festival of Russian Art in Essen, Germany.
The orchestra has a regular subscription series under the auspices of the Moscow Philharmonic Association, with varied programmes aimed at both adult and younger listeners. It frequently tours abroad, notably to Finland, France, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Greece and Turkey, as well as within Russia.
For many years, the principal partner of the Symhony Orchestra of New Russia has been one of Russia's largest companies, Basic Element, whose very name expresses its importance to the Russian economy, its industry and its culture. Continuing in the grand tradition of Russian patronage, Basic Element provides financial support to a huge number of projects in many spheres of activity, enriching the lives of hundreds of thousands of Russians.
Visit the orchestra's website: www.nros.ru
In addition to his solo work, Bashmet has toured the world with his own chamber orchestra, the Moscow Soloists.
A fierce defender of the Russian educational system with regard to music, which he sees as more rigorous than in the west, his commitment to his students after college has been such that he has twice formed a group called the Moscow Soloists. The first group lasted for seven years. Then, almost as soon as it had disbanded ("divorced" is Bashmet's term), Richter's wife persuaded him that the fresh crop of young musicians needed him. Now the "new" Moscow Soloists is more than ten years old, with the same personnel as when it started.
Bashmet's enthusiasm for his players remains undiminished:
This orchestra has a very specific sound, a different sound - with a unique colour.
As in the zeal with which Bashmet encourages a new repertoire for his instrument in his solo career, he is keen to expand the repertoire for the string orchestra, not only with brand new music for the string ensemble to play, but also by rediscovering old music.
The orchestra enjoys a rewarding collaboration with record label Onyx - their first disc, of music by Shostakovich, Sviridov and Vainberg was greeted with acclaim. Their second disc, of music by Stravinsky and Prokofiev is now available, with a third in planning.
The orchestra maintains an extremely busy concert and touring schedule all over the world - recent tours have been to the Far East and the US, as well as numerous appearances in concert halls and at festivals throughout Europe.
Besides his work with the Moscow Soloists, Bashmet also regularly plays chamber music with other international soloists - for example at Verbier. Such artists include Argerich, Repin, Maisky, and previously Rostropovich and Vengerov. In May 2005 Yuri Bashmet appeared at Martha Argerich's Festival in Japan, and he returns there as a featured performer in 2007. His recording of Brahms' Piano Quartet with Argerich, Kremer and Maisky is available on Deutsche Grammaphon.
He also maintains a partnership with Austrian mezzo soprano Angelika Kirchschlager and genial French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, which typically involves the rediscovery of repertoire for the unusual combination of voice, viola and piano (over and above Brahms Op 91 songs), as well as specific commissions for the trio.
Another equally successfull collaboration is with fellow string players Victor Tretiakov, Vassily Lobanov and Natalia Gutman, with whom he regularly gives quartet concerts. Together they have appeared throughout Europe, giving concerts in Germany, Portugal, Greece, Belgrade, France and Belgium.
Despite the early works associated with the Viola - the concerti by Stamitz and Mozart's Sinfonia concertante for example - it was the 20th century that saw the rise in interest in the instrument, with Sir William Walton, Belá Bartók, and violist / composer Paul Hindemith leading the way, responding to the artistry of such players as Lionel Tertis and William Primrose. It will come as no surprise that Bashmet is President of the International Lionel Tertis Viola Competition, and that he has a particular liking for both the Walton and Bartók concerti.
But, since his win in Munich and his subsequent international career, Bashmet has encouraged an expansion in the viola repertoire far exceeding any other period in musical history. Of particular importance are the works composed for him by contemporary Russian composers: Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina and Georgian Giya Kancheli. Other works written for him include: On Opened Ground, by Mark-Anthony Turnage, and John Taverner's The Myrrh Bearer and Path by Alexander Raskatov.
Unlike many fellow Russian musicians (including Schnittke, Gubaidulina and Kancheli), Yuri Bashmet has kept his home in Moscow, although his touring schedule means that he gets home for only about six weeks of every year. With his wife Natasha he has two children: his daughter, Xenia (a talented pianist) and his son, Alexandre.
Retaining his home in Moscow was a natural decision for him to make, given his love both for his fellow Russians and Russian culture.
Russia has a very wide view on life. With regard to its literature and culture, which is much younger than Europe, from one point of view it is not as strong, from another it is younger, with more energy. Yet at the same time Russian culture has a very deep tradition – think of Tolstoy, Dosteyevsky, Pushkin, or composers such as Tchaikovsky and musicians like Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Gilels and Richter. Such tradition can be seen in Gergiev's Kirov Young Academy.
His commitment to his people and the young musicians in Russia is one of his most fundamental tenets. He was the youngest ever professor at the Moscow Conservatoire - appointed in 1976 - and has also become a major personality in Moscow, even to the point of hosting his own TV show. His musical relationships have a special resonance with his Russian compatriots; Kremer, Rostropovich (who spotted him once when Bashmet was in the Conservatoire orchestra, and marked him out as a future soloist) and Valery Gergiev, who he has known since Gergiev was conducting in Armenia, before his glory days at the Kirov.
Another very special relationship, perhaps the most influential and personal, was with Sviatislav Richter - with whom he recorded Britten, Hindemith and Shostakovich - after whose death, Bashmet took over the December Nights Festival. Also of particular note is Bashmet's regular recital partner, pianist Mikhail Muntian.
As a further commitment to his homeland, Bashmet founded the International Foundation which bears his name in 1994. It awards the 'Shostakovich Prize' each year - recipients have included Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sofie Mutter, Viktor Tretiakov, Valery Gergiev, Olga Borodina and Thomas Quastoff. There are also modest stipends for young musicians as well as grants for retired musicians or dependants, such as the wife of the 'grandfather of Russian viola', Vadim Borisovsky, who is nearly 100 years old.
The Yuri Bashmet Foundation is established as part of the Kronberg Academy - inspired by the Kronberg Academy's Violin Festival and Mstislav Rostropovich's Cello Foundation. With the help of this Foundation, the Kronberg Academy supports young violists taking part in the 'Chamber Music Connects the World' project. The activities of the Trust are complemented by Viola Foundation instruments, made available to scholarship winners. In addition, Yuri himself participates in the Academy's Chamber Music project, held every other year.
In addition to his Professorship at the world-renowned Moscow Conservatory, Bashmet's teaching and master-class activities extend throughout Europe. He traditionally spends ten days in Siena each August as Professor of Viola at the Music Academy there. In addition he has - when time has permitted - given master-classes throughout the world.
Bashmet is involved annually in two major festivals. The first, which has been going since 1997, is a September festival on the island of Elbe - the Elbe Isola Musicale d'Europa - based around Portoferraio's Teatro Napoleonico dei Vigilante.
This festival has been so successful that Bashmet's commitment to the island was recognised in 2002 when he was made an Honorary Citizen. He brings the Moscow Soloists to the island for each festival, where they are joined by major soloists, such as violinist Gidon Kremer and cellists Mario Brunello and Natalia Gutman. In addition, Bashmet is able to bring great wind players from across Europe.
Over 12 days there are chamber and instrumental concerts, as well as orchestral concerts. The Elbe Orchestra is created by combining the Moscow Soloists together with all the visiting instrumentalists.
At the end of the year, Bashmet is director of an equally distinctive festival in Moscow: December Nights.
After Richter died I was asked to continue December Nights as director. It is a unique festival, as it always explores connections with pictures. We take a painting and play music from the same period, often by composers who knew the artist. We have this possibility - and to invite some great soloists - because the concerts are in the Pushkin Museum, and they can bring any painting to the hall where we play.
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