Gidon Kremer

Detail, nuance, and clarity of line are the distinctive qualities of Gidon Kremer’s violin playing. He is known for his exceptionally wide repertoire, from the Baroque to the present day. Kremer was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1947, and studied with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory. He used his early appearances in the West to promote the music of contemporary Soviet composers, particularly Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina, both of whom wrote concertos for him. In 1980, he settled in Germany, and the following year founded the Chamber Music Festival in Lockenhaus, Austria, which he directed for 30 years. Kremer has been active as an orchestra leader throughout his career, first with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and later with Kremerata Baltica, a group he founded in 1997 with young players from the Baltic states. Kremer’s many recordings reflect his broad musical interests. The standard repertoire is well-represented, but often with a twist: His recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto includes postmodern cadenzas by Schnittke, and his 2000 album Astor Piazzolla: Four Seasons of Buenos Aires - Vivaldi: Four Seasons intersperses Vivaldi’s familiar concertos with Piazzolla’s tango-inspired The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (1965-1970). In his later career, Kremer has been particularly committed to promoting lesser-known composers from Eastern Europe, including Weinberg, whose music has enjoyed a huge revival, in large part due to Kremer’s tireless efforts.