Leonidas Kavakos has established himself as a violinist and artist of rare quality, known at the highest level for his virtuosity, superb musicianship and the integrity of his playing. International recognition came while Kavakos was still in his teens. He won the Sibelius competition in 1985 and, three years later, the Paganini Competition.
Since then, he has worked with the world’s major orchestras and conductors and has formed close ties with many – Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, La Scala Filharmonica, New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Alan Gilbert, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Kavakos is a committed chamber musician, recitalist and is a favored artist at the Verbier, Montreux, Edinburgh, and Salzburg Festivals. He embarks on a Beethoven sonata cycle this season at Wigmore Hall with pianist Emmanuel Ax, and together they will take this cycle to the Vienna Musikverein in 12/13 season. Kavakos will then perform the cycle in Athens, Milan, Amsterdam and Florence with Enrico Pace. Kavakos’ many distinguished chamber music partners include Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Natalia Gutman, Hélène Grimaud, Nicholas Angelich, Nikolai Lugansky, Elisabeth Leonskaja ... read full bio
Leonidas Kavakos has established himself as a violinist and artist of rare quality, known at the highest level for his virtuosity, superb musicianship and the integrity of his playing. International recognition came while Kavakos was still in his teens. He won the Sibelius competition in 1985 and, three years later, the Paganini Competition.
Since then, he has worked with the world’s major orchestras and conductors and has formed close ties with many – Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, La Scala Filharmonica, New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Alan Gilbert, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Kavakos is a committed chamber musician, recitalist and is a favored artist at the Verbier, Montreux, Edinburgh, and Salzburg Festivals. He embarks on a Beethoven sonata cycle this season at Wigmore Hall with pianist Emmanuel Ax, and together they will take this cycle to the Vienna Musikverein in 12/13 season. Kavakos will then perform the cycle in Athens, Milan, Amsterdam and Florence with Enrico Pace. Kavakos’ many distinguished chamber music partners include Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Natalia Gutman, Hélène Grimaud, Nicholas Angelich, Nikolai Lugansky, Elisabeth Leonskaja.
Kavakos’ repertoire is broad and he has always resisted being identified with a particular period or genre of repertoire. In addition to the great 19th and 20th century concerti which are his mainstay, he is known for his interpretations of Bach and Mozart as well as work such as Dutilleux L’Arbre des Songes. In April 2012, he will give the world premiere of Oswaldo Golijov’s Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel.
Leonidas Kavakos is increasingly recognized as a conductor of considerable gift and musicianship. He was Artistic Director of the Camerata Salzburg from 2007-2009 and has since appeared with numerous orchestras including the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, La Scala Filharmonica, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Houston Symphony Orchestra. In the current season he will conduct/play with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Maggio Musicale, RAI Torino, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Kavakos already has a distinguished discography and a number of his recordings have been awarded prizes – his recording of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto coupled with Mendelssohn piano trios with Enrico Pace and Patrick Demenga on Sony Classical was named ECHO Klassik Best Concerto Recording of 19th Century Work 2009. Also on Sony, he recorded live Mozart’s five violin concerti and Symphony No. 39, together with the Camerata Salzburg. In 1991, shortly after winning the Sibelius Competition, Kavakos won the Gramophone Award for the first ever recording of the original version of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto (1903/04) recorded on BIS. For ECM, he has released recordings of sonatas by Enescu and Ravel together with pianist Péter Nagy and a recording of works by Bach and Stravinsky.
Leonidas Kavakos plays the ‘Abergavenny’ Stradivarius of 1724.
Audio clips:
Duo Concertant: Dithyrambe and Suite Italienne: Scherzino from the album Bach / Stravinsky by Leonidas Kavakos (violin) and Peter Nagy (piano) courtesy of ECM.
Allegro Molto Appasionato from the album Mendelssohn Violin Concerto & Piano Trios courtesy of Sony Classical.
Last updated September 2011. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.
