20. - 23. July 2013

Filarmonia de Cámara de Valencia
Maxim Vengerov, violin and conducting

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D minor
Bach: Double Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043
Tchaikovsky: "Sérénade mélancolique" in B-flat minor for violin and orchestra, Op. 26, TH 56
Tchaikovsky: "Souvenir d'un lieu cher", Op.42 (Mélodie, Scherzo, Méditation) arr. for solo violin & orchestra
Tchaikovsky: Valse-scherzo C major, op.34, TH 58


For July 2013, the Filarmonia da Cámara de Valencia prepared yet another astonishing project with one of today's most appreciated artists - Maxim Vengerov. Maxim Vengerov is recognized as one of the world’s most exciting violinists, performing in sold out concerts all over the world. Alongside Filarmonia de Cámara de Valencia, he will tour Europe in July 2013, making this project a must for every European venue.


Maxim Vengerov

Widely regarded as one of the world’s most dynamic artists, Maxim Vengerov has performed sold out concerts with the world’s most eminent orchestras in every major city in the world. Steeped in the celebrated Russian tradition of music making, Maxim enjoys international acclaim as a musician of the highest order, tireless in his search for new means of creative expression.

Having reached the pinnacle of the musical world as an instrumentalist, Maxim Vengerov followed in the footsteps of his mentor, the late Mstislav Rostropovich and turned his attention to conducting, bringing his sensitivity and keen musicianship to the podium.  He took his first conducting classes from Professor Vag Papian, who himself studied with the legendary Ilya Musin in St. Petersburg, and since 2009 takes regular advise with Maestro Juri Simonov, who comes from the German school of conducting, and is a great mentor to him. At the invitation of Valery Gergiev, Maestro Vengerov has conducted the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, earning accolades both from the critics and the public. His Carnegie Hall debut as a conductor, which took place during the 2007 Verbier Festival Orchestra tour of North America, received great critical acclaim.  “The musicians responded magnetically to him”, wrote Vivien Schweitzer of The New York Times.

He has since conducted the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow & Russian National Philharmonic, the Moscow Virtuosi, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bergen Symphony Orchestra and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris with programs that feature works by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. He was also chief conductor of the Gstaad Symphony Orchestra performing on tour in major European cities in 2010.

Maxim is now divides his time equally between playing, conducting and teaching. This year will see him in recital in Europe, Canada and Asia, as conductor and soloist with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Montreal, Quebec and Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and as soloist with various orchestras including London Symphony Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and English Chamber Orchestra.

As teaching and encouraging young talent is a great passion of Maxim’s, he has become the Ambasador and visiting Professor of the Menuhin Academy in Switzerland and he has taken the post of Menuhin Professor at the Royal Academy of Music London since January 2012. As chairman of the prestigious Wienawski competition in Poznan, Maxim has been auditioning over 200 musicians, travelling to 9 capitals of the world, selecting the finalists for last year’s competition.

Maestro Vengerov has been profiled in a series of documentaries, including Playing by Heart, which was recorded by Channel Four Television and screened at the Cannes Television Festival in 1999, and Living the Dream, which was released worldwide and received the Gramophone Award for Best Documentary 2008.  In September 2008 he was invited by the BBC to conduct the BBC concert orchestra and be a member of the jury in the Maestro Series, a program designed to give general public an insight into the fascinating profession of a conductor.  Maestro regularly serves on juries, most recently at the Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition and the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition.

Beginning his career as a solo violinist at the age of 5, Vengerov has won prestigious international competitions, collaborated with the world’s finest conductors and recorded the entire violin repertoire for a number of high-profile labels, including Teldec Classics and EMI, receiving many prestigious awards and nominations including Grammy and Gramophone Artist of the Year.  Hungry for experience that lies outside a standard track record of a musical prodigy, Maxim has let himself be inspired by many different styles of music, including baroque, jazz and rock.  He has had a collaboration with Trevor Pinnock exploring the baroque repertoire with an extensive tour throughout Europe playing on a period instrument, and in 2005 learned jazz and rock improvisation with the French star of jazz Didier Lockwood, as well as dancing Argentine Tango with Chirstiane Palha for the premiere of the Benjamin Yusupov’s Viola Tango Rock Concerto, a work that he commissioned.

Along with Rostropovich and Gergiev, Maxim Vengerov counts Daniel Barenboim among his mentors, not only from the purely musical point of view but also in terms of their commitment to philanthropy, education and talent development. Educational activities such as music forums, lectures and conferences are an integral part of Maxim Vengerov’s work.  Maestro holds Honorary Professorships from many top conservatories around the world, including the Royal Academy of Music in London and from 2000-2004 was the Professor of Violin at the Hochschule in Saarbrucken.

In 1997, Maxim Vengerov became the first classical musician to be appointed Envoy for Music by UNICEF, which provided him with the unique opportunity to inspire children worldwide through music.  As a UNICEF good will ambassador, he performed for underprivileged children in Uganda, Thailand and the Balkans, and helped raise funds for UNICEF assisted programs.  Since 2007 Maestro has been an Ambassador for Zegna & Music project, which was founded by the luxury men’s clothing label Ermenegildo Zegna in 1997 as a philanthropic activity to promote classical music.  Maxim is a patron of the MIGDAL Project in Northern Israel designed to give disadvantaged children a chance to learn how to play a musical instrument and to improvise in classical and ethnic styles, harnessing the healing power of music and promoting humanitarian and cultural values.  He is also a patron of the MIAGI Project in South Africa, which connects children of different ethnic backgrounds through music.

Maxim Vengerov plays ex-Kreutzer Stradivari (1727).