Kristof Barati
Encyclopedia
Kristóf Baráti is a Hungarian violinist, and is widely regarded as one of the most talented violinists to emerge in recent years.
in 1979; his mother played the violin and his father was a cellist. He received his first violin instruction from his mother and continued his studies with the founder of the famous Tátrai Quartet
, Vilmos Tátrai. Throughout much of his childhood, Baráti lived in Venezuela
, where at the age of 8 he
performed with the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra.
In 1996, he began studying in Paris with Professor Eduard Wulfson. Wulfson, himself a student of Yehudi Menuhin
, Nathan Milstein
, and Henryk Szeryng
, passed on to Baráti the standards which his own teachers had embodied, all of them protagonists of the great Franco-Belgian and Hungarian violin school
.
, Baráti won first prize, which would prove to be a touchstone for his future success. In the wake of a moving performance by Baráti at the Jacques Thibaud
Competition, a critic wrote:
In 2001, Baráti opened the Colmar Festival in France as soloist under the direction of Vladimir Spivakov
. For the past three years, he has been a Guest Professor (along with Ida Haendel
, Vadim Repin
, and Natalia Gutman
) at the master classes organized by Eduard
Wulfson, first at the Château de Champs-sur-Marne
and in 2005 at the Sorbonne
in Paris
.
At the invitation of the French Senate
, Baráti gave the final concert of the "Raphael
: Grace and Beauty" exhibition in the Luxembourg Museum in Paris. He performed works which demand a particular virtuosity: the two sonatas of Eugène Ysaye
, H.W. Ernst’s “Last Rose of Summer”, and J.S. Bach’s “Partita No. 3” (played on the 1734 Guarneri
del Gesú “ex–Haddock“).
On 18 June 2002, with the support of the Pleyel Foundation, Baráti was invited to perform a special concert in which he repeated Nathan Milstein’s achievement of performing on one evening J.S. Bach’s 6 Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (on a rare Stradivarius
, the “ex-Cobbett” from 1706, played for the first time in France).
Baráti regularly performs in Hungary with the Budapest Festival Orchestra
, conducted by Ivan Fischer
, and with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Zoltan Kocsis.
In 2006, he made his German debut with the Berliner Philharmonie
under the direction of Kirill Karabits
.
In October 2010, Barati won the Sixth International Paganini Violin Competition in Moscow.
Early life
Baráti was born into a musical family in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
in 1979; his mother played the violin and his father was a cellist. He received his first violin instruction from his mother and continued his studies with the founder of the famous Tátrai Quartet
Tátrai Quartet
The Tátrai Quartet was a Hungarian classical string quartet founded in 1946 and based in Hungary. For the half-century after World War II it was one of the foremost string quartets in Hungary, specializing in Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn, and also in the first performance of works by Hungarian...
, Vilmos Tátrai. Throughout much of his childhood, Baráti lived in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, where at the age of 8 he
performed with the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra.
In 1996, he began studying in Paris with Professor Eduard Wulfson. Wulfson, himself a student of Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
, Nathan Milstein
Nathan Milstein
Nathan Mironovich Milstein was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period...
, and Henryk Szeryng
Henryk Szeryng
Henryk Szeryng was a Polish violinist.-Early years:He was born in Żelazowa Wola, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy family....
, passed on to Baráti the standards which his own teachers had embodied, all of them protagonists of the great Franco-Belgian and Hungarian violin school
Hungarian violin school
The Hungarian violin school started with Jòzsef Joseph Böhm, when in 1819 he began to teach the first violin class of Vienna's Conservatory. Böhm studied in Budapest, with his father, and with Pierre Rode , so he is the link between the French school and the Hungarian one.-Böhm's classes:Böhm's...
.
Performance career
At one of his first notable competition appearances in 1995, the Gorizia Competition in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Baráti won first prize, which would prove to be a touchstone for his future success. In the wake of a moving performance by Baráti at the Jacques Thibaud
Jacques Thibaud
Jacques Thibaud was a French violinist.Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won the conservatory's violin prize with Pierre Monteux...
Competition, a critic wrote:
In 2001, Baráti opened the Colmar Festival in France as soloist under the direction of Vladimir Spivakov
Vladimir Spivakov
Vladimir Teodorovich Spivakov is a leading Russian conductor and violinist best known for his work with the chamber orchestra....
. For the past three years, he has been a Guest Professor (along with Ida Haendel
Ida Haendel
Ida Haendel, CBE is a British violinist of Polish birth.- Career :Ida Haendel was born in Chełm, a small city in Eastern Poland. She took up the violin at the age of three and as a seven-year-old was admitted at the Warsaw Conservatory. She later studied with Carl Flesch and George Enescu in Paris...
, Vadim Repin
Vadim Repin
Vadim Repin is a Belgian Russian violinist who currently lives in Austria....
, and Natalia Gutman
Natalia Gutman
Natalia Gutman is a Russian cellist. She began to study cello at the Moscow Music School with R. Sapozhnikov. She was later admitted to the Moscow Conservatory, where she was taught by Rostropovich, amongst others....
) at the master classes organized by Eduard
Wulfson, first at the Château de Champs-sur-Marne
Château de Champs-sur-Marne
The Château de Champs, at Champs-sur-Marne was built in its present form for the treasurer Charles Renouard de la Touane in 1699 by Pierre Bullet, architecte du roi. After the first proprietor's bankruptcy, another financier, Paul Poisson de Bourvalais, took up the project...
and in 2005 at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
At the invitation of the French Senate
French Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...
, Baráti gave the final concert of the "Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
: Grace and Beauty" exhibition in the Luxembourg Museum in Paris. He performed works which demand a particular virtuosity: the two sonatas of Eugène Ysaye
Eugène Ysaÿe
Eugène Ysaÿe was a Belgian violinist, composer and conductor born in Liège. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tzar"...
, H.W. Ernst’s “Last Rose of Summer”, and J.S. Bach’s “Partita No. 3” (played on the 1734 Guarneri
Guarneri
The Guarneri is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati and Stradivari families...
del Gesú “ex–Haddock“).
On 18 June 2002, with the support of the Pleyel Foundation, Baráti was invited to perform a special concert in which he repeated Nathan Milstein’s achievement of performing on one evening J.S. Bach’s 6 Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (on a rare Stradivarius
Stradivarius
The name Stradivarius is associated with violins built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or reproduce, though this belief is controversial...
, the “ex-Cobbett” from 1706, played for the first time in France).
Baráti regularly performs in Hungary with the Budapest Festival Orchestra
Budapest Festival Orchestra
The Budapest Festival Orchestra was formed in 1983 by Iván Fischer and Zoltán Kocsis, with musicians "drawn from the cream of Hungary's younger players", as The Times put it...
, conducted by Ivan Fischer
Iván Fischer
Iván Fischer is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Born in Budapest into a Jewish musical family, Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest...
, and with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
The Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra is the most prestigious symphony orchestra in Hungary. Based in the capital Budapest, it has stood as one of the pillars of the country's musical life since its founding in 1923 as the Metropolitan Orchestra...
conducted by Zoltan Kocsis.
In 2006, he made his German debut with the Berliner Philharmonie
Berliner Philharmonie
The Berliner Philharmonie is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany. Home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the building is acclaimed for both its acoustics and its architecture....
under the direction of Kirill Karabits
Kirill Karabits
Kirill Karabits is a Ukrainian conductor. His father was the conductor and composer Ivan Karabyts....
.
In October 2010, Barati won the Sixth International Paganini Violin Competition in Moscow.
Recordings
- Ravel: Violin sonata no. 2; Bartók: Solo violin sonata; and Bowen: Piano sonatas no. 5. With Severin von Eckardstein (piano). (Saphir Productions 2007)
- Paganini: Violin concertos 1 & 2*. With Eiji Oue, the NDR Philharmonic Orchestra (Hannover), and the Radio-Philharmonie Hannover des NDR*. (Berlin Classics 2009)
- J.S. Bach: Six sonatas and partitas for solo violin (Berlin Classics 2010)
- Mendelssohn: Violin concerto in e minor. With Rico Saccani and the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. (BPO Live 2010)
- Saint-Saens: Violin concerto no. 3 in b minor. With Rico Saccani and the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. (BPO Live 2010)