Biography

Nina Kavtaradze commenced her musical studies at the age of 6 at the Central Music School of the Conservatoire in her city of birth, Moscow, which was established in 1932 especially for gifted children. Already at the age of 8, Nina Kavtaradze played in the Colonnade at the House of the Union. Eleven years later she graduated to the Conservatoire proper joining the class of Lev Oborin. Following her graduation, the great teacher was to write this of his pupil: "She is a musician who possesses talent of the very highest order, with considerable artistic depth and brilliant individuality." 

Nina Kavtaradze has given concerts all over the former Soviet Union, USA and in most European countries, performing as a soloist. Kavtaradze´s repertoire includes a.o. 50 concerts with orchestra, which she has played with numerous conductors. Among them Yuri Ahronovich, Sir Charles Groves, Leif Segerstam, Jorma Panula, Kurt Sanderling, Moshe Atzmon, Mariss Jansons, Kiril Kondrashin, Lamberto Gardelli, Michael Schönvandt, Osmo Vänskä, Jan Latham-Koenig, Petri Zakari, Gunnar Staern, Daron Salomon, Peter Erös, Ole Schmidt etc. 

Typical examples of the critics reflections are expressed in these reviews: 

“Hurricane-concert - She came, played and conquered, had temperament and radiation.”(Grieg – Concerto in A Minor with Matthias Aeschbacher). 

“Poetical Beethoven - Now intense, energetic and ”bragging”, now tender, intimate, profound and thoughtful. Nina Kavtaradze covered a lot of ground of Beethovenian temperament when she and the Aarhus Symfoniorkester performed Beethoven’s 5^th Piano Concert. A concentrated and thoroughly reflected work by the soloist and the orchestra contributed to building a high degree of musical tension as, for example, at the transition between the slow movement and the finale, where the energy slowly and gradually was led to a zero point just before it exploded in the towering tonal cascades of the final. It was like the calm before the storm. Besides, Nina Kavtaradze demonstrated a distinguished way of  tone in which she made the piano sing in a beautiful, sensitive, but intense sound.” (Beethoven Concerto no. 5 in E – flat Major with Jorma Panula). 

“A Rare Bird - The evening became an experience. For Nina Kavtaradze is a rare bird who, from her former homeland, has brought with her, and stuck to, a quite different tradition and attitude towards the two composers of the evening, Chopin and Schumann. And this is refreshing, not to say exciting. Thus we experienced Chopin’s 24 preludes, op. 28, from quite new angles of approach - with a flavour and a poetry, a tenderness and a lingering to which we are not accustomed. A beauty which, therefore, might confuse, but which was full of the conjecturing,  suggesting, persuading spontaneity of the moment. And all moments filled with the impression that it was just now life was throbbing. You just enjoyed and inhaled the expressive strength. Strolling from discovery to discovery with spontaneous surprises. Not something that was “just” written in the notes or had stiffened once and for all but ponderingly created rather as an  impulsive sequence.” (Chopin - 24 preludes,  Schumann – Etudes symphoniques).

Besides her performances as a soloist she has given concerts with artists such as Jean-Pierre Rampal, Felix Ayo, Liana Isakadze and Victor Pikaizen, and since 1986 she has formed a duo with Erling Blöndal Bengtsson with whom she has appeared extensively throughout the world. After the concert recently at the famous Shriver Hall concert series in Baltimore The Sun wrote: “Kavtaradze commanded attention for her technical finesse." " Her nimble articulation in the Beethoven work had a nice sparkle, and she was particularly impressive in Rachmaninoff."

Her vast repertoire comprises both the familiar and the lesser known: she has recorded the complete works for piano of  Richard Wagner (and edited these works for the internet company www.freehandmusic.com, amongst these four pieces, which were never published before) and Mussorgsky. The Wagner recording was chosen as being one of the top 10 piano CD´s in the world for the year 2000 by the prestigious german music magazine"Neue Musikzeitung" (founded by Robert Schumann). The dutch Music Magazine WAA wrote about the same recording: "It would be difficult to find a better advocate of these works" and about "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky: "...this concerns an exceptional performance of his most famous opus. Kavtaradze offers an exciting wandering past Victor Hartmann´s pictures. Unexpected accents and pauses that contain an intensive suspence offers a new insight into this world of sonority. "Promenade" is in this execution an experience. An "Exhibition" worth repeated visits." The danish music magazine High Fidelity wrote about "Pictures at an Exhibition": “This work has been recorded numerous times, but this recording is, nevertheless, worth concerning oneself with, because it is different and important. Kavtaradze narrates more than most others, she shows images and this she does with poetry and intimacy, indeed, with love. It is a new experience to listen to music in this way. Therefore, you should  buy this recording, even if you have others in your possession.”  

I 2003 was her recording of Tchaikovsky´s “Seasons” and “Childrens Album” nominated by the Danish Radio for the "P2-Prize" Danish Music Awards.  

In 2004 was her recording of Herman D. Koppels Piano Concerto No. 3 the winner of the Danish Music Awards. Shortly after she performed it with great succes in St. Petersburg with the St. Petersburg Hermitage Orchestra.  

In 2006 Kavtaradze recorded CD with works by Chopin.

In 2007 Nina Kavtaradze participated as jurer at the William Kapell International Piano Competition in USA.

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