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

The hero of our article today is Yuri Bashmet, a musician with a world-known name, of which the lazy did not hear. Honorary academician of the London Academy of Arts, a chevalier of several orders - he always wears black and very fond of the word "ambition". He loves life and loves the work that he does. How to develop his creative path, who he is and what he dreams about - this is our story.

Who is he?

Yuri Bashmet is a person who does not need special representation. Known to the whole world musician and conductor - incredibly talented, lively, versatile - this man forever wrote his name in the history of classical music of the XX 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 also 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 (which is in their power) for their country; A country in which their descendants will live. After all, someone must do it.

He likes black color in clothes and believes that one must be consistent in everything. Claims that betrayal and failure to fulfill the obligations given to someone - clean water is a crime.

About him can be a long and exciting story. Bashmet's biography is multifaceted, and life is so full and diverse that it is very difficult to cover all spheres of its activity. We will only touch on the facts from his personal history.

Facts from biography

Born Bashmet Yuri Abramovich 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 Lviv. 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 for his duty.

I must say that the family did not have professional musicians, but the music was always welcomed there, was the main guest at any feast. Jura from childhood was fond of this field of art, and the father, along with grandparents, 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. The woman, because of fear that her son in difficult teenage years can contact a bad company and go on the wrong path, gave the boy to a music school. According to Maya Zinovievna, the constant occupation of a music school in music school was to somehow organize a teenager so that he did not have time for all sorts of nonsense.

Why viola?

If the circumstances were different, the world would have known the violinist Yuri Bashmet. However, when Yura and his mother came to the Lviv secondary special music school, there were no places for training in the violin class. Maya Zinovievna was offered to give the child to the alt.

Of course, at that time the viola did not have such popularity and fame as a violin. Many believed that the alto class was trained only by losers, who were eliminated from the lessons of playing the violin. In addition, the musical instrument is much larger than its relative, and in order to extract sounds from it, you need strong, hardy hands.

Parents Yuri Bashmet this fact is very aroused, but the guy, on the contrary, was happy. The fact is that a friend of the young man sang to his friend about the fact that the viola does not require such a huge return in training, like a violin. And this is a great chance to devote more time to playing the guitar. At that time, Jura, like many of his contemporaries, was heard by the idols of the then young people - the Beatles group, whose members were musical gods - they imitated, they were equal.

But it should be said that this fact in the biography of the young Bashmet proved to be fatal. He so liked the sound of viola, that lessons on this musical instrument carried the young man seriously. After a while he became a prize-winner of the republican music contest in Kiev.

The first steps to success

I must say that in general, only thanks to Bashmet Alt was so popular and famous. This musician brought the instrument to a new level and forever entered his name in the history of classical music. However, the world renown of Yuri Bashmet was preceded by hard work - on technology, on performance and on himself.

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

A sign in the career of a musician is considered to be just 1976 - Bashmet won the International Violist Competition in Germany. He won the contest and went on tour to the cities of the country. By the way, the competition was organized with the support of radio and television of Bavaria, and this undoubtedly played a leading role in the fact that the musician was instantly famous.

In the biography of the maestro there is a very interesting fact: the instrument of Yuri Bashmet, on which he plays from 1972 to the present day - the work of the famous master Paolo Testore, created in the middle of the XVIII century. And it was Bashmet who was the first violist for more than 200 years, who was entrusted to play Mozart in German Salzburg exactly on the viola.

Conducting activities

In addition to world recognition as a musician, Bashmet achieved fame as a conductor of the orchestra. His debut in this role was held in 1985 purely by chance. A musical festival was held in the French city of Tours, and for reasons beyond comprehension Bashmet's close friend Valery Gergiev could not attend. Yuri Abramovich asked for help in solving this situation - he was persuaded to stand for the conductor's panel. It turned out - not in vain. Bashmet liked it so much that, in his own words, he simply fell ill with this affair.

In the same year 1985, Yuri Abramovich created his chamber orchestra under the title "Soloists of Moscow". 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 - the orchestra of Yuri Bashmet collapsed. All orchestraists decided to leave their homeland and stay abroad. It was not an easy situation for a musician - life tested him for strength. However, he survived and a year later assembled a new line-up of Moscow Soloists.

Biography

To date, conductor Yuri Bashmet has toured the Moscow Soloists with the orchestra around the globe. For years of concert activity, musicians have skirted the globe no less than 30 times.

In 1996, Yuri Bashmet organized and headed the "Experimental Chair of Viola." In this adventurous idea, at first it was scary to rush headlong. The chair was conceived for those students who differed from the classical graduate of the conservatory. Maybe with a slightly weaker technique of the game, but with no less charisma and personality. But everything turned 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, under the leadership of Bashmet is the State Symphony Orchestra "New Russia". Maestro is the artistic director and chief conductor of the orchestra. In parallel to the leading activities, Yuri Abramovich is engaged in a solo career, participates in chamber programs.

And he still has enough time to take direct part in the organization of festivals in the French Tour and the Italian Elbe.

Among other things, since 1998 to this day the maestro is the artistic director of the festival "December Evenings". Yury Bashmet is engaged in all creative and organizational issues.

A family

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

Yuri immediately drew attention to the pretty girl, but Natalia did not hurry to show her feelings. However, I later realized that the young man is a real man, whom you can rely on, and accepted a proposal from Yury for a hand and a heart. Young people decided to unite their destinies, being students of the fifth year.

Yuri Abramovich Bashmet and his wife Natalia Timofeevna have two children - Alexander's son and daughter Xenia.

Xenia 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 successes of his daughter. However, initially he did not think to instill in his children this profession. In his opinion, this is a very difficult specialty.

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

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

About the person of Yuri Bashmet

Yuri Bashmet, whose biography of creative activity amazes with its scale, likes not only to work, but also to have a good rest. The best rest for the soul is reading - he loves to read a lot. Yuri Abramovich admits that the book can so entice him, that he sometimes forgets about sleep and body food.

Physical pleasure Bashmetu brings a game of billiards. Do not mind the maestro and tease the fortune - he is a frequent visitor to the casino.

Bashmet is quite a sociable person, communication gives him real pleasure. The doors of the Bashmet family house are always open to guests. By the way, one of the favorite holidays of Yuri Abramovich is the New Year. The musician prefers to celebrate it not in a restaurant or in a noisy city in principle, but in a solitary silence in the circle of relatives and relatives - at the dacha. 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 homeland. He does not betray Russia. And although on duty he has to travel to various countries in which he has loved the city, the heart still rushes here, home. Maestro openly states that only in the halls of Russian cities there is a special atmosphere, which is nowhere else.

Charity

Bashmet Yuri Abramovich is a one-man person. As noted earlier, he tries to be consistent in everything, does not recognize betrayal. A musician is a deed, really helps those who need help and who he really can help. And not always material means.

In 1994, the maestro founded and headed the Yury Bashmet International Charity Fund. After some time, the foundation established the International Prize. D. Shostakovich "for outstanding achievements in the field of world art".

According to Yuri Abramovich, it is of course impossible to help everyone. But address - by force, most importantly, there would be a desire.

Here he is, Yuri Bashmet, great and incredibly talented, distant and so close, his and the present.