Kremerata Baltica – an outstanding chamber orchestra consisting of 27 young Baltic musicians. “Kremer and his new string orchestra, made up of extraordinary young players from the Baltic States, are special. They animate everything their bows touch.” (Los Angeles Times)
Founded in 1997 by the renowned violinist Gidon Kremer, the Grammy-award winning chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica is already considered one of the most prominent international ensembles in Europe. Although it originally began as a “birthday present to myself” to celebrate his 50 years of life in 1997, Gidon Kremer immediately envisaged the potential behind the 27-member ensemble of young musicians drawn from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as a medium to share his rich artistic experience with the new generation and, at the same time, to promote and inspire the musical and cultural life of the Baltics.
Having opted to make the world their permanent home, Kremerata Baltica annually performs about 60 concerts during six annual tours throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Regular performances in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, London, Moscow, and New York in the greatest halls are followed by appearances at renowned music festivals such as Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, the Prague Spring, the BBC Proms in London, Glasperlenspiel, etc.
In addition to its performances as a full chamber orchestra, Kremerata Baltica also shines in ingeniously-programmed chamber music performances under the label Kremerata Musica with small- to medium-sized formations comprised of members of the group.
Naturally, the musical scene of the Baltics is of great importance to Kremerata Baltica. Supported by a joint-program of the Ministries of Culture of all 3 countries, numerous performances are held every year in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. While the majority of the concerts are led by and performed with Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica has appeared with celebrated conductors and soloists such as Jessye Norman, David Geringas, Boris Pergamenschikow, Tatiana Grindenko, Sir Simon Rattle, Christoph Eschenbach, Kent Nagano and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Programming and performing an unusually extensive and versatile repertoire, Kremerata Baltica give much importance to contemporary music. The ensemble regularly performs music of living Eastern European conductors and has commissioned new works by Pärt, Kancheli, Vasks, and Desyatnikov.
With the Nonesuch Records label, Kremerata Baltica has made 7 recordings under the label, one of which “After Mozart” received the Grammy Award 2002 in the cathegory of classical music. Their last Nonesuch recording, “Russian Seasons”, was released last year. Their first recording with Deutsche Grammophon, “Kremerland”, including contemporary works dedicated to and premiered by the ensemble, was recently released.
The general manager of Kremerata Baltica is Dr Ingrida Zemzare.
In the thirty year course of his distinguished career, violinist Gidon Kremer, born in Riga, Latvia in 1947, has established a worldwide reputation as one of the most original and compelling artists of his generation, praised for his high degree of individualism, his rejection of the well-trodden paths of interpretation, and his search for new possibilities.
Gidon Kremer began studying at the age of four with his father and grandfather, who both were professional violinists. At the age of seven, he entered the Riga Music School. At sixteen he was awarded the 1st Prize of the Latvian Republic and two years later he began his studies with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatoire. He went on to win prestigious awards including the 1976 Queen Elizabeth Competition and the 1st Prize in both the Paganini and Tchaikovsky International Competitions.
Gidon Kremer has appeared on virtually every major concert stage with the most celebrated orchestras of Europe and America. He has collaborated with the foremost conductors, including Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Christoph Eschenbach, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Valery Gergiev, Claudio Abbado and Sir Neville Marriner, among others.
An exceptionally prolific recording artist, Gidon Kremer has made more than 100 albums, many of which brought him prestigious international awards and prizes in recognition of his exceptional interpretative powers. These include the Grand prix du Disque, Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, the Ernst-von-Siemens Musikpreis, the Bundesverdienstkreuz, the Premio dell’ Accademia Musicale Chigiana, the Triumph Prize 2000 and in 2001 the Unesco Prize. In February 2002 he and Kremerata Baltica were awarded with the Grammy for their latest Nonesuch recording “After Mozart” in the category of “Best Small Ensemble Performance”.
In 1981 Gidon Kremer founded Lockenhaus, an intimate chamber music festival that continues to take place every summer in Austria. For two years from 1997 to 1998, Gidon Kremer took over the artistic leadership of the Gstaad Festival from its founder, Sir Yehudi Menuhin. In 1997, he founded Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra to foster the talent of outstanding young musicians from the three Baltic States. Since then, Mr Kremer has been touring extensively with the orchestra, appearing at the world’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls. He has also recorded a number of CDs with the orchestra for Teldec and Nonesuch, the first releases featuring music by Peteris Vasks and Astor Piazzolla, the latest recording released on Nonesuch being a collection of works under the theme “Happy Birthday”. In 2002 Gidon Kremer became the artist director of a new festival in Basel called “les muséiques”. Gidon Kremer is equally a gifted writer, he is the author of three books in German that refect his artistic philosophy.
Gidon Kremer plays a Guarneri del Gesù “ex-David”, dated from 1730.
Kremer and his new string orchestra, made up of extraordinary young players from the Baltic States… are special… They animate everything their bows touch. (Los Angeles Times, USA)
Die Kremerata Baltica ist ein Kammerorchester von seltener Qualität. Die jungen Musikerinnen und Musiker sind geübt, ohne eigentlichen Dirigenten zu spielen, sie kommunizieren wie ein Kammerensemble miteinander, intensiv. Ihr Streicherklang ist eindrücklich homogen, farbig und warm. (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Germany)
So many phrases were beautifully turned, you almost had to smile. The concertmaster and principal cellist played sweetly to each other against the delicately humming background of the slow movement, their melodies having a natural ease and fluency… Though the piece, originally scored for sextet, was being played by about four times as many musicians, the rhythm was joyously precise. (The New York Times, USA)
Zwei Kremer(ata)-Sternstunden im Konzerthaus. Seele gesucht, Seele gefunden. (Die Welt, Germany)
AFTER MOZART A Raskatov, W A Mozart, V Silvestrov, A Schnittke Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica Nonesuch 2001 79633 |
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY T Bor, J Gys / F Servais, P Heidrich, V Kakhidze, L Kupkovic, A Schnittke, P Tchaikovsky, F Waxman Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica Nonesuch 2002 79657 |
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EIGHT SEASONS A Vivaldi, A Piazzolla Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica Nonesuch 2000 79568 |
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GEORGE ENESCU Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica, Dzeraldas Bidva, Ula Ulijona, Marta Sudraba, Andrius Zlabys Nonesuch 2002 79682 |
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KREMERLAND F Liszt / S Dreznin, L Chizhik, A Vustin, G Kancheli, A Bakshi, G Pelēcis, I Dunayevsky / S Dreznin Gidon Kremer, Marta Sudraba, Leonid Chizhik, Andrej Pushkarev, Danelius Rubinas, Kremerata Baltica Deutsche Grammophon 2004 474 8012 |
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RUSSIAN SEASONS L Desyatnikov, A Raskatov Gidon Kremer, Julia Korpacheva, Kremerata Baltica Nonesuch 2003 79803 |
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SILENCIO A Pärt, P Glass, V Martynov Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica, Tatiana Gridenko, Reinut Tepp, Eri Klas Nonesuch 2000 79582 |
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TANGO BALLET A Piazzolla Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica, Ula Zebriunaite, Marta Sudraba, Per Arne Glorvigen, Alois Posch, Vadim Sakharov Teldec 1999 22661 |
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TRACING ASTOR A Piazzolla, G Sollima, G Pelēcis, L Desjatnikov Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica, Ula Ulijona, Marta Sudraba, Sol Gabetta, Leonid Desjatnikov, Horacio Ferrer Nonesuch 2001 79601 |
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VASKS: DISTANT LIGHTS / VOICES Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica Teldec 1999 22660 A Piazzolla. Verano Porteno, live rec, fragm, 92 sec, mp3 A Schnittke. Polka, fragm, 67 sec, mp3 |
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