Andres Mustonen (Violin soloist)
Andres Mustonen’s discovery of music has followed a very unusual path. His
adolescent fascination with contemporary music made an about-face in the early
1970s towards early and Christian music. In 1972 the musician founded the early
music ensemble Hortus Musicus, which still exists today. Since Hortus Musicus
was formed, Andres Mustonen and the ensemble have regularly performed together
to great acclaim at various venues and at music festivals throughout the world.
Over the years the ensemble has recorded twenty-five albums.
Andres
Mustonen is also an acclaimed violinist and conductor, though his conducting
career was preceded by many years of performances as a concert musician.
Mustonen works with many renowned ensembles, among them the Grand Tchaikovsky
Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow and
St &nbPetersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Musica Viva academic chamber
orchestra, the National Orchestras of Finland, Sweden, Germany, Latvia and
Lithuania, the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra, the Helsinki City Orchestra and
the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
For many years now, the conductor
has worked with the Tallinn Philharmonic Orchestra and the Estonian National
Symphony Orchestra. Mustonen’s conducting style is unusual for its
spontaneity, improvisation and radiant artistry. “For me, an orchestra is not a
static form but a living organism of musicians, one whose members enhance and
affect each other.”
Mustonen’s repertoire includes both pieces of early
music as well as new works. He frequently performs premieres of new opuses. He
focuses particular attention on oratorios and other church music masterpieces
ranging from the baroque era to the modern day. His repertoire includes works by
Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Anton Bruckner, Giya Kancheli,
Krzysztof Penderecki, John Tavener, Alexander Knaifel and Sofia Gubaidulina.
Andres Mustonen has developed a wide circle of musician friends with whom he
shares many ideas and principles. He says “I never share the stage with someone
I don’t know, don’t consider my friend or don’t love.”
|