Born in 1948 in Riga, Latvia, Mischa Maisky begins his first music lessons in Riga, where he attends the Children's Music School and Conservatory. In 1962 he enters the Leningrad Conservatory. In 1965 his debut with the Leningrad Philharmonic earns him the nickname "Rostropovich of the Future". One year later he becomes prizewinner at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and begins his studies with Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatory while pursuing a concert career throughout the former Soviet Union. After being imprisoned in a labour camp near Gorky for 18 months in 1970, he emigrates from the USSR.
1973 Settles in Israel; having won the 1973 Gaspar Cassadó International Cello Competition in Florence, makes his debut at New York's Carnegie Hall with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under William Steinberg; after the concert an anonymous admirer gives him an 18th-century Montagnana cello on which he still performs today
1974 Studies with the legendary Gregor Piatigorsky, thus becoming the only cellist to have studied with both Piatigorsky and Rostropovich
1975 Beginning of his international career, with regular concerts throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and the Far East, especially in Japan
1976 London concerto debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
1977 London recital debut with pianist Radu Lupu
1982 First recording for Deutsche Grammophon: Brahms's Double Concerto with Gidon Kremer and the Wiener Philharmoniker under Leonard Bernstein
1973 Signs his first exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon; records Schumann's Concerto with Bernstein and the Wiener Philharmoniker (released 1986); two important CD Bach releases this year: the Cello (Gamba) Sonatas with Martha Argerich and Maisky's first recording of the Six Solo Suites
1989 CD releases include recordings of Dvorák's Cello Concerto and Bloch's Schelomo with Leonard Bernstein and the Israel Philharmonic (Record Academy Prize, Tokyo 1989)
1992 First appearance at the Proms in London; released on CD this year: Adagio, an anthology of Romantic pieces, with the Orchestre de Paris under Semyon Bychkov
1993 Gives a recital with Martha Argerich, one of his most important musical partners, at the Salzburg Festival
1995 Returns to Moscow for the first time after a 23-year absence to give a concert and to record works by Prokofiev and Miaskovsky for DG with Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra; CD release this year: a coupling of Vivaldi and Boccherini concertos with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Echo Award 1996)
1997 CD releases include a Tchaikovsky disc with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Songs Without Words by Brahms (with Pavel Gililov)
1998 Appears together with Martha Argerich and Gidon Kremer in Tokyo performing piano trios by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky (recorded live by DG and released in 1999, Echo Award 2000); CD releases: Cellissimo with pianist Daria Hovora, a collection of shorter pieces spanning the centuries from Bach to Bloch; and a Saint-Saëns selection with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Daria Hovora (Echo Award 1999)
1999 CD releases: a French collection entitled Après un rêve (with Daria Hovora), the Brahms Sonatas (with Pavel Gililov) and his second recording of the Bach Suites, which receives wide critical acclaim
2000 Dedicates the year mostly to Johann Sebastian Bach, beginning with a "Bach Marathon" in Zurich, where he plays all of Bach's works for cello (the Solo Suites and Sonatas with harpsichord) in three concerts on a single day, and giving over 100 Bach concerts in Asia, Australia, North and South America, and in most European countries
2001 A recording of Maisky and Argerich Live in Japan (sonatas by Chopin, Franck and Debussy) is released this year
2003 Recitals with Martha Argerich at Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center; trio recital with Martha Argerich and Gidon Kremer at Carnegie Hall; duo recital with Sergio Tiempo at the Salzburg Festival. CD release of Mendelssohn's Cello Sonatas with pianist Sergio Tiempo; recordings in Berlin of the Brahms G minor Piano Quartet with Argerich, Kremer and Bashmet, and the Dvorák Cello Concerto and Strauss's Don Quixote with Zubin Mehta and the Berliner Philharmoniker
2004 Appearances in Rome with Chung and the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia, in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and in Paris with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; extensive performances of the Dvorák Concerto, including a tour with the Czech Philharmonic; on tour in Japan with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra; recitals and chamber music appearances in Europe, the USA, Korea, Japan and at the Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein and Salzburg festivals; CD releases: Dvorák and Strauss, with Mehta and the Berliner Philharmoniker (Record Academy Prize, Tokyo, 2003), and chamber music by Brahms and Schumann, with Argerich, Kremer and Bashmet (Record Academy Prize 2003)
2005 Concert appearances throughout Western and Eastern Europe with orchestras including the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, North German Radio Symphony (NDR) and Kremerata Baltica; benefit concert for Asian tsunami victims in January with Thomas Quasthoff at Vienna's Musikverein; other recitals and chamber music appearances in Europe, Israel and Japan, and at the Lugano, Ludwigsburg, Rheingau, Dubrovnik and Verbier festivals; CD release: live recording of Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Stravinsky with Martha Argerich
2006 CD release: Vocalise - Russian Romances (with Pavel Gililov)
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