About the Artists: Moscow String Quartet with Mykola Suk
Described by Alfred Schnittke as "an extraordinary ensemble that distinguishes itself with refined musical style, an unusually beautiful sound, and a tremendous artistic temperament", the Moscow String Quartet has emerged as one of the major Russian chamber ensembles of today. Known as passionate promoters of twentieth century Western music in Russia and contemporary Soviet music in the West, the quartet was inspired by the great Russian masters such as David Oistrakh, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels and the original Borodin Quartet.
The quartet members, graduates of the Moscow Conservatory and Gnessin Musical Institute in Moscow, met in the class of renowned cellist Valentin Berlinsky of the Borodin Quartet. After graduating, the quartet made its first recording jointly with the Borodin Quartet: Shostakovich’s Octet for strings - a collaboration that continued in numerous performances. The Moscow String Quartet went on to gain international acclaim by winning the Leo Weiner International Quartet Competition in Budapest, Hungary. It also won First Prize for best performance of Classical music and Grand-Prix for its interpretation of contemporary music at the International Quartet Competition in Evian, France.
During Soviet times, the quartet was the only one to perform the "Lyric Suite" by Berg, Bartok’s quartets, the "Ode to Napoleon" by Schoenberg, Luigi Nono’s quartet "Fragmente – Stille, An Diotima" and Toru Takemitsu’s quartet. They were also the first to unveil "unofficial" and "non-conformist" composers of the Soviet underground, who were not as appreciated in their own country as abroad. Among these composers were Edison Denisov, Sofia Gubaidulina and Alfred Schnittke, with whom members of the ensemble had formed close relationships. Numerous works were written for the ensemble by these composers, and the quartet’s performances of their works introduced them to audiences outside the Soviet Union.
The members of the Moscow String Quartet have especially fond memories of their performance at the Berlin Stadium during the commemoration of the falling of the Berlin Wall, organized by Willy Brandt, the Mayor of West Berlin at that time. Many famous musicians from around the world gathered to celebrate this historic event, Schnittke among them. He reached out to the quartet and asked them to perform his composition, which was very well received by the audience.
By now the quartet has played to consistent critical acclaim in the major concert halls of Europe, with regular performances at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the Academy of Arts in Berlin. In North America, the ensemble has appeared, among others, in New York City (Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Frick Collection), Philadelphia, Washington, DC (White House, Smithsonian Institute), Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa. In addition, the quartet has appeared at many prestigious festivals, including Sviatoslav Richter’s "December Nights" Festival, Paris and City of London Festivals, Holland Festival, Berliner Festwochen, Stratford-upon-Avon and Cheltenham Festivals, Casals Festivals in Prades and San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Catalonia Festival in Spain, the Newport and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival.
The Moscow String Quartet has recorded for MCA, Fine Arts Records, Chant Du Monde, Channel Classics, Russian Disc and Melodiya, including works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Ravel, Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, Denisov, and Schnittke. A Shostakovich recording is scheduled for release. The Quartet has been also featured in documentaries about Alfred Schnittke (1989, Russian TV) and Sofia Gubaidulina (1988-1989, BBC). And a documentary about the Moscow String Quartet was later produced by Denver Center Media (1994).
The quartet members, graduates of the Moscow Conservatory and Gnessin Musical Institute in Moscow, met in the class of renowned cellist Valentin Berlinsky of the Borodin Quartet. After graduating, the quartet made its first recording jointly with the Borodin Quartet: Shostakovich’s Octet for strings - a collaboration that continued in numerous performances. The Moscow String Quartet went on to gain international acclaim by winning the Leo Weiner International Quartet Competition in Budapest, Hungary. It also won First Prize for best performance of Classical music and Grand-Prix for its interpretation of contemporary music at the International Quartet Competition in Evian, France.
During Soviet times, the quartet was the only one to perform the "Lyric Suite" by Berg, Bartok’s quartets, the "Ode to Napoleon" by Schoenberg, Luigi Nono’s quartet "Fragmente – Stille, An Diotima" and Toru Takemitsu’s quartet. They were also the first to unveil "unofficial" and "non-conformist" composers of the Soviet underground, who were not as appreciated in their own country as abroad. Among these composers were Edison Denisov, Sofia Gubaidulina and Alfred Schnittke, with whom members of the ensemble had formed close relationships. Numerous works were written for the ensemble by these composers, and the quartet’s performances of their works introduced them to audiences outside the Soviet Union.
The members of the Moscow String Quartet have especially fond memories of their performance at the Berlin Stadium during the commemoration of the falling of the Berlin Wall, organized by Willy Brandt, the Mayor of West Berlin at that time. Many famous musicians from around the world gathered to celebrate this historic event, Schnittke among them. He reached out to the quartet and asked them to perform his composition, which was very well received by the audience.
By now the quartet has played to consistent critical acclaim in the major concert halls of Europe, with regular performances at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the Academy of Arts in Berlin. In North America, the ensemble has appeared, among others, in New York City (Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Frick Collection), Philadelphia, Washington, DC (White House, Smithsonian Institute), Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa. In addition, the quartet has appeared at many prestigious festivals, including Sviatoslav Richter’s "December Nights" Festival, Paris and City of London Festivals, Holland Festival, Berliner Festwochen, Stratford-upon-Avon and Cheltenham Festivals, Casals Festivals in Prades and San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Catalonia Festival in Spain, the Newport and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival.
The Moscow String Quartet has recorded for MCA, Fine Arts Records, Chant Du Monde, Channel Classics, Russian Disc and Melodiya, including works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Ravel, Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, Denisov, and Schnittke. A Shostakovich recording is scheduled for release. The Quartet has been also featured in documentaries about Alfred Schnittke (1989, Russian TV) and Sofia Gubaidulina (1988-1989, BBC). And a documentary about the Moscow String Quartet was later produced by Denver Center Media (1994).
“An astonishing blend of muscular power, poetry and utter control he will prove to be one of the more formidable talents to have appeared in this country in years”(American Record Guide).
This statement resonates with truth for the Ukrainian-American pianist, Mykola Suk, who gained international recognition as the winner of the First Prize and Gold Medal at the 1971 International Liszt-Bartok Competition in Budapest, Hungary. His international career has spanned four continents, performing in the most prestigious venues from the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory to Carnegie Hall in New York. “...enormous digital control... such an impressive technique was so completely subsumed in the task of musical characterization. Suk never used the piano to show off; he made it the servant of Liszt’s expressive ideas”(Toronto Star).
Mr. Suk has appeared as soloist with numerous leading orchestras, from the Russian National Symphony under Mikhail Pletnev to the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn under Roman Kofman. He has collaborated artistically with the world’s outstanding conductors, among them Charles Bruck, Janos Ferencik, Arvid Jansons, Stefan Turchak, James DePreist and Carl St. Clair. Mr. Suk’s interviews, live performances, and CD recording have been broadcast throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia on prominent radio stations and broadcast systems.
Since his first public appearance at age eight, Mykola Suk has given recitals world-wide in the countries of the former Soviet Union, France, Germany, England, Finland, Egypt, Mexico, United States, Canada, Korea, China, Mongolia and Australia. The European Piano Teacher’s Journal wrote that Mykola Suk is “..surely the most towering and volcanic talent to have come out of Russia since Anton Rubinstein.” Suk’s passion for chamber music has brought him to many distinguished chamber music festivals and collaborations throughout the world, among them, the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival (Finland), Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Kiev International Music Festival (Ukraine) and International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York.
Mr. Suk is an avid believer in 20th and 21st century piano literature. He was honored to premiere numerous works, especially by Ukrainian composers such as Valentin Silverstrov, Ivan Karabyts and Myroslav Skoryk. Most of the compositions were composed for, dedicated to, or commissioned by Suk.
Mykola Suk completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance at the Moscow State Conservatory, studying with Lev Vlasenko. He also holds a combined Bachelor/Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance, Pedagogy and Chamber Music from the Moscow State Conservatory. Before coming to the United States he served as professor of Piano at the Kiev State Conservatory and Moscow State Conservatory.
Mykola Suk has given master classes at many festivals and music schools around the world. He has taught as an adjunct faculty member at various music schools such as the New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music (NY), Columbia University (NY), and the University of Southern Alabama. In 2001, Mr. Suk settled in Las Vegas, Nevada, taking responsibility for keyboard studies at the Music Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Mr. Suk has recorded to high acclaim for the Melodia (Russia), Russian Disc, Hungaraton, Meldac/Tritan (Japan) and Troppe Note/Cambria, Music & Arts (USA) labels.
This statement resonates with truth for the Ukrainian-American pianist, Mykola Suk, who gained international recognition as the winner of the First Prize and Gold Medal at the 1971 International Liszt-Bartok Competition in Budapest, Hungary. His international career has spanned four continents, performing in the most prestigious venues from the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory to Carnegie Hall in New York. “...enormous digital control... such an impressive technique was so completely subsumed in the task of musical characterization. Suk never used the piano to show off; he made it the servant of Liszt’s expressive ideas”(Toronto Star).
Mr. Suk has appeared as soloist with numerous leading orchestras, from the Russian National Symphony under Mikhail Pletnev to the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn under Roman Kofman. He has collaborated artistically with the world’s outstanding conductors, among them Charles Bruck, Janos Ferencik, Arvid Jansons, Stefan Turchak, James DePreist and Carl St. Clair. Mr. Suk’s interviews, live performances, and CD recording have been broadcast throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia on prominent radio stations and broadcast systems.
Since his first public appearance at age eight, Mykola Suk has given recitals world-wide in the countries of the former Soviet Union, France, Germany, England, Finland, Egypt, Mexico, United States, Canada, Korea, China, Mongolia and Australia. The European Piano Teacher’s Journal wrote that Mykola Suk is “..surely the most towering and volcanic talent to have come out of Russia since Anton Rubinstein.” Suk’s passion for chamber music has brought him to many distinguished chamber music festivals and collaborations throughout the world, among them, the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival (Finland), Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Kiev International Music Festival (Ukraine) and International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York.
Mr. Suk is an avid believer in 20th and 21st century piano literature. He was honored to premiere numerous works, especially by Ukrainian composers such as Valentin Silverstrov, Ivan Karabyts and Myroslav Skoryk. Most of the compositions were composed for, dedicated to, or commissioned by Suk.
Mykola Suk completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance at the Moscow State Conservatory, studying with Lev Vlasenko. He also holds a combined Bachelor/Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance, Pedagogy and Chamber Music from the Moscow State Conservatory. Before coming to the United States he served as professor of Piano at the Kiev State Conservatory and Moscow State Conservatory.
Mykola Suk has given master classes at many festivals and music schools around the world. He has taught as an adjunct faculty member at various music schools such as the New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music (NY), Columbia University (NY), and the University of Southern Alabama. In 2001, Mr. Suk settled in Las Vegas, Nevada, taking responsibility for keyboard studies at the Music Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Mr. Suk has recorded to high acclaim for the Melodia (Russia), Russian Disc, Hungaraton, Meldac/Tritan (Japan) and Troppe Note/Cambria, Music & Arts (USA) labels.