editor

The Lithuanian cellist and conductor David Geringas belongs to the musical elite of today. An unusually broad repertoire from the early Baroque to the contemporary is testament to the flexibility and curiosity of the artist. His intellectual rigor, his stylistic versatility, his melodic feeling, and the sensuousness of his tone have brought him praise the world over.
The Rostropovich pupil and gold-medal winner of the 1970 Tchaikovsky Competition can now look back on a career that has spanned decades.
David Geringas has performed world-wide with some of the leading orchestras, and important conductors of our time. His discography, which now approaches 100 CDs, includes many that have been honored with important prizes, including the Grand Prix du Disque for his recording of the 12 cello concertos of Luigi Boccherini, the Diapason d’Or d’Année for the chamber music of Henri Dutilleux, and the prize of the year from the Deutschen Schallplattenkritik for his recording of the cello concertos of Hans Pfitzner. In 2013, David Geringas received the “Echo Klassik“ for the best chamber music recording of 20-21. Century (Braunfels / Strauss, Profil Edition Günter Hänssler).
Prominent in his career as an artist are the regular releases of outstanding CDs. Between 2008 and 2011, eight new CDs were released. Among them are two world-premieres (“David’s Song“ and “Discorsi“, Profil Edition Günter Hänssler ), the works for piano and cello by Sergei Rachmaninoff (Hänssler Classics), of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (Profil Edition Günter Hänssler) and Frederic Chopin (Sony Music Entertainment, as well as the complete works Violoncello and Piano by Ludwig van Beethoven (Hänssler Classic) with the pianist Ian Fountain. The CD of the cycle “Bach Plus”, that includes all the six Bach Suites for violoncello, introduced with fragments from various contemporary composers was released in October 2011 and was recently reviewed in the journals Der Spiegel and Fonoforum.
Well-known contemporary composers such as Sofia Gubaidulina, Ned Rorem, Peteris Vasks and Erkki-Sven Tür have dedicated cello concertos to him. He has premiered many works of the Russian and Lithuanian avant-garde in the West. In 2002, he gave the world premiere of the Concerto in DO by Anatolijus Šenderovas which was dedicated to him, and won the European Composers Prize in Berlin. In 2012 , David Geringas performed three world premieres, Arvydas Malcys’ Concerto “In Memoriam” in Kaunas, the Concerto per Violoncello by Silvia Colasanti in Milan, and the Cello Concerto by Alexander Raskatov in Amsterdam.
As conductor, David Geringas appears regularly in Germany and abroad, and appears frequently in a dual role as cellist and conductor. Besides the invitations from the citadels of West and East European music centers (Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Auditoriun Parco della musica Roma, Wiener Musikverein, Tonhalle Zürich, Berliner Philharmonie), among others, he has received invitations from Asia and the USA. From 2005 to 2008, he was chief guest conductor for the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and the China Philharmonic Orchestra. In February 2009, he made his debut as conductor with the Moscow Philharmonic in Moscow. His opera conducting debut followed in 2010 with Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in Klaipeda, Lithuania.
David Geringas has for decades taught a worldfamous cello class from which have come such cello stars as Gustav Rivinius, Jens Peter Maintz, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Monika Leskovar, Tatiana Vassiljeva, Jing Zhao, Johannes Moser, Maximilian Hornung and Sol Gabetta.
For his championing of Lihtuanian music and composers, David Geringas has won the highest awards of his homeland. He was awarded the Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse of Germany for his achievements as musician and cultural ambassador for the country on the international musical scene. David Geringas is honorary professor at the Moscow Conservatory and at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, as well as having received an honorary doctorate from the Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy.
Jascha Nemtsov is a pianist and musicologist of Russian-Jewish origin, since 1992 he lives in Germany. By now he has recorded almost 30 CDs, several of which have been awarded, among others the German Record Critics Prize. He has performed throughout the world as a soloist and with chamber music partners David Geringas, Tabea Zimmermann or Kolja Blacher. He also leads the Cantorial School of the Abraham Geiger College. Numerous publications, including several monographs, are a result of his extensive research in the field of Jewish music. In 2013 he was appointed Professor for History of Jewish music at the Liszt School of Music Weimar.

David Geringas is editor of Osvaldas Balakauskas' works for 'cello, published by Verlag Neue Musik.

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