The year 2004 is special in the life of the world-famous violinist and
conductor Vladimir Spivakov. He has a lot to celebrate and each date unveils
to us new and heretofore unknown features of the character of this brilliant
musician and outstanding personality...
The first and foremost jubilee is, of course, his 60th birthday anniversary...
Vladimir Spivakov was born September 12 of 1944 in Novosibirsk...
His favorite childhood pastimes were sports, painting, literature...
Surprisingly, music brings up the rear in this shortlist...
 Moscow Conservatory
Professor Yuri Yankelevich turned Vladimir's life all around. Quickly appreciating
the young man's talent, he convinced everyone that Moscow was the only
place Vladimir should go to continue his musical education. Since then
professor Yankelevich has been more than just a mentor to Vladimir but
a kindred soul, almost like a father...
Let's skip the conservatory years and go straight to 1969 the year when
Spivakov won his very first top competition award after failing to do so
on several previous occasions. It was in Montreal and the victory gave
him a much-needed international boost to his career. It was 35 years ago...
Which makes it Vladimir's second anniversary of the year...
Vladimir Spivakov's son, Alexander, was born that same year. Several months
later his wife, pianist Victoria Postnikova, moved in with the famous conductor
Gennady Rozhdestvensky taking the baby Sasha with her. She demanded that
Vladimir officially give up his son and she them gave the boy the second
name of her new husband. Spivakov was absolutely devastated and he only
recovered from that terrible blow fourteen years later tying the knot with
a young and very beautiful actress from Armenia.
Vladimir and Sati have been living happily together for twenty years now
and that's the third jubilee falling this year.
Vladimir and Sati have three beloved daughters. The driven and energetic
Sati manages the house and her husband's affairs. The host of a popular
TV show that ran for several years, Sati Spivakova recently published a
book about famous people she came across in her life. Needless to say,
Maestro Spivakov features very prominently in that book.
We've now come to the fourth jubilee... 25 years ago, in 1979, Vladimir
Spivakov set up a chamber orchestra he very modestly called Virtuosi of
Moscow. Well, he did have a reason for that little bravado, however, bringing
together the very best musicians he could find. The new ensemble dished
out a bevy of classical hits with unheard-of-before mastery and impeccable
taste wowing the audiences wherever they went...
The Virtuosi of Moscow were now a much sought-for fixture of high society
events and TV shows in Moscow. Vladimir Spivakov was the talk of the whole
town...
It's a pity that virtually none of the musicians Spivakov started out has
stayed on. Most of the original lineup refused to return to Russia from
Spain where they had spent almost nine years rehearsing and playing concerts
on invitation from the Prince of Asturias.
The present lineup featured very young faces but, happily, the old spirit
was still very much there.
In 1989 Vladimir Spivakov was invited to direct a summer music festival
at Colmar, France. It was fifteen years ago and this is the sixth high
point in Maestro Spivakov's anniversary-packed year.
Under Spivakov's expert stewardship, the Colmar festival became an almost
instant success attracting scores of music lovers from France, Germany,
Switzerland, Russia and even the United States by its original programs
and star-studded lineups. Before long the Colmar festival was touted as
one of Europe's premiere music events. In recognition of his effort, the
French government awarded Vladimir Spivakov the order of Officer of Beaux
Arts and the country's highest civilian distinction, the Order of the Legion
of Honor...
The seventh jubilee has to do with the charity fund Vladimir set up in
1994 and which has over the years given out a wealth of artistic, medical
and financial assistance to an estimated 2,000 musically endowed kids.
Since that time the Spivakov Fund handed out a raft of excellent instruments
to this country's most talented young musicians.
Another landmark in Vladimir Spivakov's life takes us back to the year
1999 when the Maestro was invited to take up the Russian National orchestra.
Until then he occasionally tried his hand conducting several symphony orchestras
but this time round they put him at the head of one of Russia's very best
orchestras.
His romance with the orchestra or, rather, its management, proved pretty
short lived though. Soon after, Vladimir canceled the contract deciding
to set up his very own symphony orchestra. Nearly one third of the RNO's
lineup then quit to join Spivakov's new outfit and the vacant spots were
filled by winners of a very tough competition Vladimir held to choose the
best of the best to feature on his outfit. Spivakov's new orchestra played
for the first time in 2003 and that's the ninth anniversary in Maestro
Spivakov's 2004 shortlist.
The tenth jubilee deals with the first anniversary of Vladimir's work as
President of the International House of Music in Moscow. It was his idea
to
build a three-hall multipurpose art center perched high on the Moskva
Riverbank in the downtown. The IHM now serves as a home base for
Vladimir's symphony and chamber orchestras and also for the charity fund
he heads.
The International House of Music is the venue of the traditional
“Vladimir Spivakov Invites” winter festival that brings together the very
best
musicians from around the world.
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