Ilya Gringolts

Ilya Gringolts wins over audiences with his highly virtuosic playing and sophisticated interpretations and is always seeking out new musical challenges. As a sought-after soloist, Ilya Gringolts devotes himself to the great orchestral repertoire as well as to contemporary and rare works; he is also interested in historical performance practices. His concert programmes include virtuosic early repertoire by Paganini, Leclair, and Locatelli. At the beginning of the year, he premiered his own arrangement of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. He also launched new works by Peter Maxwell Davies, Christophe Bertrand, Bernhard Lang, Beat Furrer, and Michael Jarrell and premieres by Augusta Read Thomas, Michael Jarrell, Christophe Bertrand, and Albert Schnelzer. In the summer of 2020, Ilya Gringolts and Ilan Volkov founded the I&I Foundation for the promotion of contemporary music, which awards commissions to young composers. A first series of short solo works was created last season, including works by Yu Kuwabara and Sky Maclachlan, which debuted on BBC Radio Scottish and at the Accademia Chigiana.

Ilya Gringolts began the 2022/23 season with Nicolas Altstaedt and Lawrence Power at the Musikfest Berlin, in celebration of Wolfgang Rihm’s 70th birthday. Further invitations brought him to the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the ORF Radio-Symphonic Orchestra Vienna, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Andrey Boreyko, the Helsinki Philharmonic and Radio Filharmonisch Orkest under Hannu Lintu, the Oslo Philharmonic under Klaus Mäkelä and the National Symphony Orchestra Taiwan. He will conduct the Camerata Bern from his violin at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and an extensive tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra will once again bring him to Australia.

Ilya Gringolts has performed with renowned orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Recent highlights have been joint projects with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Wiener Symphoniker, the Bamberger Symphoniker, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. From his violin, he has recently conducted projects with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Bern, and Ensemble Resonanz.

For his Diapason d'Or and Gramophone Editor's Choice Award-winning recording of Locatelli's Il labirinto armonico (2021), Ilya Gringolts also led the Finnish Baroque Orchestra from the podium. This was followed in the same year by the solo CD Ciaccona with works by Bach, Pauset, Gerhard, and Holliger, which also received the Gramophone Editor's Choice Award. His extensive discography of highly acclaimed CD productions for Deutsche Grammophon, BIS, and Hyperion, among others, also includes the critically acclaimed recording of Paganini's 24 Caprices for solo violin and the second part of his recording of the complete violin works of Stravinsky (2018), recorded with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia under Dima Slobodeniouk and awarded the Diapason d'Or.

As first violinist of the Gringolts Quartet, he has enjoyed great success at the Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Dortmund, and Teatro La Fenice in Venice. A highly esteemed chamber musician, Ilya Gringolts regularly collaborates with artists such as Nicolas Altstaedt, Alexander Lonquich, James Boyd, Itamar Golan, Peter Laul, Aleksandar Madzar, Christian Poltera, David Kadouch, Lawrence Power and Jörg Widmann.

After studying violin and composition with Tatiana Liberova and Zhanneta Metallidi in St. Petersburg, he attended the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied with Itzhak Perlman. He won the International Violin Competition Premio Paganini (1998) and is still the youngest winner in the competition’s history; he was also named a BBC New Generation Artist at the outset of his career. In addition to his professor position at the Zurich University of the Arts, Ilya Gringolts was appointed to the renowned Accademia Chigiana in Siena in 2021. He plays a Stradivari (1718 "ex-Prové") violin.

Season 2022/23

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Repertoire

Orchestra Repertoire

J. Adams

Violin Concerto (1993)

B. Adolphe

Violin Concerto

D. Ammann

unbalanced instability for violin and chamber orchestra (2012/2013)

A. Arensky

Violin concerto in A minor Op 54

J. S. Bach

Violin Concerto in E major BWV 1042

Violin Concerto in A minor BWV 1041

Violin Concerto in D minor BWV 1052R

Violin Concerto in G minor BWV 1056

Concerto for 2 violins & orchestra in D minor BWV 1043

S. Barber

Violin Concerto Op 14

B. Bartók

Violin Concerto No. 1 Sz 36

Violin Concerto No. 2 Sz 112

L. v. Beethoven

Violin Concerto in D major Op 61 *

Romance for violin and orchestra No. 1 in G major Op 40 *

Romance for violin and orchestra No. 2 in F major Op 50 *

Solo I - Ciaccona, around Bach

H. Holliger: Drei kleine Szenen

R. Gerhard: Chaconne

B. Pauset: Kontrapartita

interspersed with movements from

J. S. Bach: Partitas I-III

Solo II - Paganini plus

Caprices by N. Paganini and S. Sciarrino and Etudes by J. Widmann

Duo I - With Masato Suzuki (harpsichord)

J.-P. Rameau: Solo work for harpsichord

J.-M. Leclair: Sonata for violin and harpsichord

F. Couperin: Concerto for violin and harpsichord

L.-G. Guillemain: Solo work for violin

J.-M. Leclair: Sonata for violin and harpsichord

Duo II - With Peter Laul (Klavier)

W. A. Mozart: Sonata in A major KV 526

E. W. Korngold: Sonata in G major Op. 6

A. Dvorak: Sonatine in G major Op. 100

Trio I with Peter Laul (piano) and Dmitry Kouzov (cello)

L. v. Beethoven: Piano trio in G major Op. 1 no. 2

H. Holliger: New work

R. Schumann: Piano trio no. 1 in D minor Op. 63

Trio II - With Maximilian Hornung (cello) and James Boyd (viola)

Ernö Dohnanyi: Serenade

Dieter Ammann: Gehörte Form

Zoltán Kodály: Intermezzo

L. v. Beethoven: String trio in C minor Op. 9 no. 3

References

“A violinist’s violinist. It’s difficult to imagine a more complete violinist than Ilya Gringolts. And even harder to imagine a more perfect performance than the one he gave of Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G major, scaled down to fit the Australian Chamber Orchestra.”

Limelight Magazine, Steve Moffatt, 08/02/2023

From the opening track onwards, elegant playing launches a programme rich in charm from Ilya Gringolts and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, all on sparkling form.

Gramophone, Editor’s Choice March 2021 (Locatelli SACD with Finnish Baroque)

Soloist and director, Ilya Gringolts, produces exciting and profound readings of Locatelli’s music, and he is very ably supported by the Finnish Baroque Orchestra in the 9th, 11th and 12th concertos of the set.

Early Music Review, D. James Ross, 7/03/2021 (on the Locatelli SACD with Finnish Baroque)

"[...] the whole thing sounds fabulous. First, there’s the sheer energy and joy radiating out from what is a deliciously luminously stringy sound from the orchestra […]. Then in comes Gringolts, equally full of stylish, multicoloured élan on his gut-stringed 1770 Gagliano […]. Under Gringolts’s fingers they’re [Locatelli’s cappricios] swooningly silky, sweet-toned, subtly shaded and curved of contour."

Grammophone, Charlotte Gardner, February 2021

“Ilya Gringolts is a virtuoso of the highest order. The arpeggios of the “Il labirinto armonico” flutter airily and a sense of ease permeates the runs, with the highest notes climbing up to the 5-line octave.”

Helsingin Sanomat, Jukka Isopuro 12/01/2021 (on the Locatelli SACD with Finnish Baroque)

“Ilya Gringolts’ recording [of Locatelli's L'arte del violino] with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra does justice to the virtuoso as well as to the elaborate ornamentation.The performance is consistently fresh, inventive, detailed and clearly phrased. It shows that Locatelli had a distinctive individual style and why he was called by contemporaries as an ‘unrivalled virtuoso’, by Diderot even as an ‘apostle of new music’. Gringolts emphasizes all aspects of Locatelli’s tonal language, whether lyrical, sentimental, virtuosic or dance-like.”

Pizzicato, Remy Franck, 9/01/2021

“Every note, every harmony, every individual tone and glissando has its right place in this work. The precision and intensity with which the MKO and Ilya Gringolts – who, both technically and musically, is nothing short of masterful – illuminate the score and render it an event leaves the listener completely enthralled. This is how contemporary music should be: urgent and compelling.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Klaus Kalchschmid, 17/10/2020

“The sensual surface of Beat Furrer’s violin concerto could be best described as a heady mixture of “sex and Formula One”. [...] In contrast to the majority of recent violin concertos, Furrer’s piece places the emphasis on the soloist.”

Münchener Abendzeitung, Robert Braunmüller, 15/10/2020

“Gringolts compares Furrer’s music to lava. But he, the violinist, is clearly the volcano in the room. Without any excess movements, but inwardly glowing and furious, Gringolts blasts rapid cascades of sound into the room. [...] No one could step in ad hoc – particularly not for Ilya Gringolts. Especially since none of the other great violinists even comes close to having the unfettered expressiveness that Furrer’s twenty-minute eruption absolutely requires.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Reinhard Brembeck, 14/10/2020

“The Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts [...] fully absorbed in the moment, made his violin sing and shriek with delight, without misplacing a single note – a virtuoso piece [Schubert's Rondo in A major D 438 with the MKO] that goes down easy but is very difficult to play.”

Schwäbische Zeitung, Dorothee L. Schaefer, 14/10/2020

“The musicians from the Gringolts Quartet and Meta4 fuse into a single body, finding in certain moments a sort of orchestral fullness – just as Mendelssohn was aiming for with his eight-string instrumentation.”

WDR 3 Tonart, Markus Stäbler, Albums of the Week 16/03-20/03/2020

“[Joannes Maria Staud's Oskar sets] the violin ablaze [...]. Throughout the virtuosic 20 minutes, you’re on the edge of your seat worrying over the fingers of the famed Ilya Gringolts, who vibrates so often at the bridge, suggesting a heightening and heating up of the action, that you feel the flames just by listening to it.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Klaus Kalchschmid, 04/02/2020

“This concert was in a class of its own, a positively unforgettable experience, featuring a musician who was committed and inspired down to his bones. [Ilya Gringolts'] interpretations [are a testament] to his profound engagement with and deep understanding of the works [Sciarrino, Widmann and Paganini], and to his unflappable, confident mastery of the instrument.”

Pizzicato, Uwe Krusch, 16/01/2020

“The concerto [Heinz Holliger Violin Concert "Hommage à Louis Soutter] – played here with harrowing conviction by soloist Ilya Gringolts – draws on the starkness of Soutter’s visual images.”

The Scotsman, Ken Walton, 9/12/2019

“The Russian violinist draws from his Guarneri del Gesù a sound of such luminosity and rich timbre that it renders the Finnish work [Concerto for violin and orchestra in D minor op.47 by Jean Sibelius] an immense aurora borealis, to which his attentive and warm interpretation lent a shimmering quality.”

El País, Julián Carrillo, 24/03/2019

“It has been proven countless times that Ilya Gringolts is one of the best violinists of his generation [...]. A Korngold of stunning transparency, Gringolts brings, with almost ridiculous ease, a clarity of execution to even the most difficult passages.”

L'ape musicale, Mario Tedeschi Turco, 6/03/2019

“The Russian violinist also demonstrates the feat of making music from the solo part [of the concerto for violin and larger chamber orchestra Op. 36 No. 3 by Paul Hindemith]. [...] His tone is not only filigree-fine, but also so radiant that the figurations are highly enjoyable, the mechanics soothing.”

Münchener Abendzeitung, Michael Bastian Weiß, 1/02/2019

“Ilya Gringolts played Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, Opus 6 with a hugely impressive display of apparently effortless technical mastery, grasping harmonics, extreme high notes, elegant double stopped slides and rich G-string melodies with nonchalant playfulness.”

The Sidney Morning Herald, Clive O'Connell, 14/10/2018

“To Gringolts’ dazzling assurance in Paganini’s First Violin Concerto (here heard in a string-orchestra-only version), no mere reviewer can do justice. Surely the sports world’s equivalent of such assurance would be doing handstands on a unicycle while singing the national anthem backwards.”

The Limelight Australia, R.J. Stove, 2/10/2018

“Most impressive is Gringolts’ musical intelligence. Still, serious and visually unassuming, he shapes Paganini’s flourishes into stylish sweeps, avoiding virtuosic overstatement, yet allowing phrases to drive forward with a sense of complete freedom. Joyously exposing the work’s lyrical foundations, he keeps his lines sweet and carefree, never hunting for gravitas where it cannot be found.”

The Australian, Eamonn Kelly, 3/10/2018

“Bartók’s monumental Sonata for Solo Violin, made a perfect vehicle for [Gringolts' deep musicality and intense fire]. Playing from memory, Gringolts mastered this beast of a piece, displaying every technique under the sun and, more importantly, providing a convincing interpretation.”

Bachtrack, Mark Thomas, 23/07/2018

“A thorough survey of Stravinsky’s violin music, Gringolts’s mastery of the composer’s idiom makes his CD and its earlier companion credible front-runners, or at the very least level-pegging with the excellent though rather less comprehensive Marwood collection.”

Gramophone, Rob Cowan, 10/2017

“A performance of the century – one truly heard Paganini’s Capricci for the very first time. […] the phrasing was so elegant, nimble and illuminating, the intonation so squeaky-clean, the line so multi-faceted.”

Der Standard, Heidemarie Klabacher, 23/08/2017

“Gringolts’ playing has a character, gesture, expression and a musical language that composers can only dream of. […] One can hardly play the violin more expressively and uncompromisingly than Gringolts.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Harald Eggebrecht, 30/08/2017

“It’s [Adams’s violin concerto] played with authority and spark by Gringolts (…) Korngold’s 1974 concerto is an even better showcase for Grigolts, whose strikingly expansive lyricism keeps schmaltz at bay.”

The Guardian, Erica Jeal, 6/04/2017

“Ilya Gringolts mastered the exceedingly difficult solo part [in Ligeti’s Violin Concerto] with stoic serenity and did not shy away from the composer’s extremely tricky cadenza, but rather replaced it with one played at an even more breakneck pace.”

FAZ, Max Nyffeler, 20/12/2016

“[Ilya Gringolts, James Boyd and Nicolas Altstaedt] played not only amazingly flawlessly, but also with captivating spirit. […] A sublime sensation - small but perfectly formed.“

FAZ, Eleonore Büning, 23/09/2015

“Ilya Gringolts was the soloist this time [Bach’s A minor Violin Concerto] – rather luxury casting for a work that lasts barely 15 minutes, but his playing had enough panache and swagger about it to turn the concerto into a convincing showcase for his virtuosity.”

The Guardian, Andrew Clements, 12/03/2015

“Few recordings [of Paganinis Caprices] search out the musical depths as convincingly as the youngest ever Premio Paganini competition winner, Ilya Gringolts. […] and it is not too fanciful to imagine something of Paganini’s own ‘other-worldliness’.”

The Strad, David Milsom, 5/01/2014

“[Ilya Gringolts] presents here what may be ‘a work of archeology’ but is clearly a fresh, modern take on these technical masterpieces. What he has achieved is to make them playful. Having discovered the dramatic qualities within, he has reflected on them. What in other recordings is somewhat predictable here becomes an exciting journey. Where we were once content simply to marvel at the pyrotechnics, now, because of Gringolts’s [sic] acute sense of timing and close attention to dynamics, we hear the music.”

Gramophone, Julie Anne Sadie, December 2013 (on the recording of Paganini: 24 Caprices op. 1)

“But the ultimate highlight was Schoenberg's Violin Concerto, played with stunning command and tenderness by Ilya Gringolts. Big vibrato, big gestures – he's an old-fashioned soloist of sorts, and turned one of the scariest concertos in the business into a work of expressive, emotive necessity.”

The Guardian, 1/06/2012

“In the hands of a player of Gringolts' calibre, [the technical demands] simply rendered the performance all the more thrilling. The dare-devilry of the cadenzas was matched by Gringolts' immense musicality. Even the quiet moments were electrifying, especially the opening of the final cadenza, which simultaneously features double-stopping and trills. [...] Gringolts seemed as engaged in [orchestral passages] as when in full flight. He really seemed to thrill to the orchestra's playing, and he clearly loves the work. This joy was reciprocated in the beaming faces of the BBC SSO, particularly the violinists.”

Bachtrack, 30/05/2012