Mikhail Gantvarg, a leading violinist of St.-Petersburg for the last few decades, is a very noticeable and original person in the music life of the city. He has passed through quite a typical way for a modern artist. After winning a prize at the Paganini International Competition in his youth, he was combining an intensive concert work together with being a principal violin in the St.-Petersburg Philarmony Symphonic Orchestra directed by Yury Temirkanov. Together with that, he has started his teaching career in the St.-Petersburg State Conservatory.
To the time of the Ensemble was created, M. Gantvarg was already a mature and well-known artist with his own creative outlook and performance style. He is one of the last successors of the legendary St.-Petersburg violin school, which gave birth to a whole "constellation" of world famous violinists. Trying to keep its best traditions, M. Gantvarg is always in the search of new ways of expression, sometimes coming to non-traditional, even paradoxical performance solutions. His generous and "classic" playing manner is combined with the creative freedom and improvising bits and total absence of routine. He is always in the process of co-creation with an author of the music he plays.
The main principles of M. Gantvarg performance manner are being put to realization with his colleagues – the musicians of the "Soloists of St.-Petersburg" chamber ensemble. The leader directs the whole Ensemble, which is reacting sensitive to any manifestation of his performance will.
Such qualities as top concentration of a musical time, sharp feeling of rhythm changes, high degree of performing freedom and rich timbre palette are the most noticeable in the Ensemble's performances. That "traits" are the cause of the originality of the Ensemble and always attract audience's attention.
The "Soloists of St.-Petersburg" ensemble is performing permanently in St.-Petersburg at the greatest halls of the city, but has also being touring to Moscow and other cities of Russia and former Soviet Union. The Ensemble has many tours, frequently taking part in international festivals. The countries of visit are: USA, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden and Finland, republics of the former Yugoslavia, Italy, Hungary, Luxembourg, Israel, Cyprus and Mexico.
The "Soloists of St.-Petersburg" have recorded and released more then 30 CDs, containing such capital works as "All Piano and Violin Mozart concertos", monumental works by Vivaldi ("Harmonic Inspiration", "Tancies", "Tom-Seasons", unique by its technical difficulties Beethoven's "Great Fugue", Six Sonatas by Rossini, series of Bach's instrumental concertos etc.
Mikhail Gantvarg vas given a rank of People's artist of the Russia in 2004. |
Conductors, composers, soloists 
