100 Musicians
Mischa Maisky (1948 - )
It somehow seems impossible that Mischa Maisky is 75. One of the true cello greats, Maisky not only still looks youthful, his playing has none of the ponderous heaviness that can afflict some artists who enter the elder statesman part of their career.
If you want to listen to musicmaking of the finest quality imaginable — and sometimes better than imaginable — listen to his recordings (and, better still, live concerts, with Martha Argerich).
Maisky was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1948, and in the 1960s was taught by Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatoire. An obvious star in the making, his card was, however, marked with the authorities as his sister had emigrated to Israel and they suspected he would attempt the same (which, eventually, he did).
They did all they could to ruin his career, cancelling concerts for no apparent reason at the last moment, banning all foreign tours and then eventually in 1970 convicting him on trumped up charges relating to an attempt to purchase a tape recorder to record his lessons with Rostropovich. He was sentenced to 18 months hard labour, after which he was transferred to a mental hospital.
In 1972 he managed to emigrate to Israel and became a citizen. Once there his career took off — remarkably, given what he had endured.
Idiotically, there are some who sneer at Maisky’s playing, attacking his supposedly “extreme” use of vibrato and the fullness of his tone. All I can say is that it is their loss — Maisky offers a warm-hearted romantic approach that is almost miraculous in its appeal.
The Soviet authorities did all they could to ruin his career, eventually convicting him on trumped up charges