Education
As a child, Takako Nishizaki studied with her father, Shinji, the co-founder of the Suzuki Method and with Shinichi Suzuki himself. She was the first student to complete the now famous Suzuki course and was awarded a teacher’s diploma at the tender age of nine.

She started performing in public at age 5 and, before she was 10, had already played for artists such as Isaac Stern and Sir Malcolm Sargent as well as the French author, Georges Duhamel, who wrote about this experience in his book about Japan.

Subsequently, she studied with Broadus Erle and Hideo Saito at Toho Conservatory in Tokyo. In 1962 she went to the United States and first studied with Broadus Erle at Yale and then with Joseph Fuchs at Juilliard. Other teachers at the time included Louis Persinger (sonata classes) and Aldo Parisot (chamber music).

While at Juilliard, Takako Nishizaki was awarded the Fritz Kreisler Scholarship, established by the great violinist himself. Among her sponsors was Alice Tully.

Competitions
In 1964 she won second prize at the Leventritt International Competition (behind Itzhak Perlman) and in 1969 first prize in the Juilliard Concerto Competition (performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Nobuko Imai).

Concert Career
Her success at the Leventritt International Competition launched her concert career, initially only in the United States but subsequently internationally.

Takako Nishizaki performed in concert with many international orchestras, among them the Sydney Symphony, the Melbourne Symphony, the New Zealand Symphony, the Central Philharmonic in Beijing, the Shanghai Symphony, the Polish National Radio Symphony, the Moscow Symphony, the Ukraine State Symphony, the Slovak Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony and many orchestras in the United States and her native Japan.

Takako Nishizaki performed and recorded with pianists Andras Schiff, Jenő Jandó, Wolf Harden, Alexander Zakin, Michael Ponti, Koon-Woo Paik and others.

She performed in chamber music ensembles with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Nobuko Imai, Ko Iwasaki, Maria Kliegel and others.

She appeared at the Sofia, Prague Spring, Bath, Chautauqua and Beijing International festivals and participated in the Australian and New Zealand international chamber music festivals.

Jury member of Major Competitions
Takako Nishizaki also served on the juries of major international violin competitions including the Fritz Kreisler (Vienna) , Michael Hill (New Zealand) and Hannover competitions.

Recording Career
Takako Nishizaki is one of the most frequently recorded and among the bestselling violinists of all time. Her recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was named the 8th best-selling classical CD of all time with sales exceeding 1, 000, 000 copies to-date. Her recordings of the Butterfly Lovers Concerto by He and Chen sold more than three million copies in the People’s Republic of China and throughout South-East Asia.

Including her recordings of Chinese music, Takako Nishizaki has recorded more than 100 CDs to date.

For RCA she recorded the complete sonatas of Grieg and a CD with short pieces by Fritz Kreisler and for Telefunken, Camerata and Marco Polo ten discs with works by Kreisler.

Also for Marco Polo, she recorded a large number of rare violin concertos, by Anton Rubinstein, Louis Spohr, César Cui, Charles de Bériot, Respighi and Joseph Joachim.

For Naxos, she has recorded Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the complete works for violin and orchestra by Mozart (including the Haffner Serenade), Beethoven, Bach and Tchaikowsky as well as the concertos of Brahms, Bruch and Mendelssohn. The Vivaldi, Bach, Brahms/Bruch and Tchaikovsky/Mendelssohn recordings were awarded platinum discs (for sales in excess of 100, 000 copies each worldwide).

Also for Naxos, she recorded the complete sonatas for violin and piano of Mozart (on six CDs) and Beethoven (on four CDs) as well as the sonatas of Grieg and Franck.

Many of her concerto and sonata recordings were awarded the highest *** rating by the authoritative Penguin Guide to Compact Discs.

Music for the Mozart Effect
Takako Nishizaki’s recordings of the Mozart violin concertos and violin sonatas were chosen for the CDs accompanying the famous book. When the CDs were release in the United States they became the bestselling classical CDs at the time, with total sales exceeding 1 million copies.

Chinese Repertoire
Since settling in Hong Kong in 1974, Takako Nishizaki has become the best-known and bestselling performer of Chinese violin music. In addition to the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto (which she recorded seven times with Japanese and Chinese orchestras as well as with the New Zealand Symphony and the Singapore Chinese Folk Orchestra) she has performed and recorded concertos dedicated to her by Du Ming-Xin and Chen Gang. She also recorded a large number of shorter pieces with piano accompaniment but also accompanied by distinguished performers on Chinese instruments such as pipa (Chinese lute) and zheng (Chinese zither) as well as duos with Chinese er-hu (fiddle) virtuosi.

She was awarded a Golden Violin by Pacific Music in Canton in 1982 (for her work in promoting Chinese music internationally) and in 1998 received an award by the Chinese Musicians Association for her service to Chinese music (following a televised concert at the first Beijing International Music Festival).

Also in 1998, Takako Nishizaki performed the Butterfly Lovers at a Gala Concert given by the mayor of Shanghai at the new Grand Theatre in Shanghai.

China Central Television produced several feature programmes devoted to her life and career in Chinese music, the latest in 1999.

Other Asian Repertoire
In 1982 Takako Nishizaki recorded a CD of Thai melodies with American Pianist Bruce Gaston which became the best-selling ever CD of a classical artist in Thailand.

International Awards
In 2001 Takako Nishizaki was awarded the Golden Merit Award of the Republic of Austria in recognition of her service to music in general and to Austrian music in particular.

In 2003 Takako Nishizaki was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the government of Hong Kong for her service to music and her community service.

In 2005, Newsweek (Japan) named her among the 100 Japanese the world most admires.

Charity Activities
Takako Nishizaki has taken part in numerous charity concerts in Hong Kong benefiting the following charities: Pathway Foundation, Hospital Authority Charitable Foundation, Sheen Hok Charitable Foundation, Society for Abandoned Animals, Red Cross, Rotary Club of Wanchai, Po Leung Kuk. For the past few years, she has been the spokesperson for Benji’s Center.

Personal Information
Takako Nishizaki now lives in Hong Kong with her husband but has a second home in Auckland, New Zealand. She travels frequently and her favourite cities are Sydney, Vienna and San Francisco.

Her greatest passion after music is good food and she is herself an excellent cook. She also enjoys red wine with a preference for French and New World pinot noir.

Her only son, Henryk (named after Wieniawski) now works for the family company, HNH International Ltd., in Hong Kong.

Takako Nishizaki Violin Studio
Takako Nishizaki has her own Violin Teaching Studio in Hong Kong. Her teaching method combines the best elements of the Suzuki Method with traditional teaching. With four assistants, all trained by her, the studio has almost 200 students. Many of these win prizes at the Hong Kong schools annual music competition, frequently competing with students twice their age.

Takako Nishizaki Plays Suzuki Evergreens
In April of 2008, Takako Nishizaki accomplished one of her lifelong dreams, by recording all the music contained in the sheet music of the world famous Suzuki Method Books for Violin, Volumes 1 to 8. With these recordings completed, Takako Nishizaki has ensured that her legacy, and that of her father, Shinji Nishizaki, and Dr Shinichi Suzuki, will live on forever, as new generations of aspiring violinists and violin teachers, continue to choose the Suzuki Method as their method of choice.

See Takako Nishizaki performing at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 26 May 2009

The chamber orchestra Cappella Istropolitana was founded in 1983, taking its name from the Roman Istropolis, the city on the Danube that is the modern Bratislava, a name that had been perpetuated in the renowned Renaissance Universitas Istropolitana. The orchestra has appeared throughout the world and has won distinction in the recording, broadcasting and television studios, working often under distinguished conductors in a comprehensive repertoire; it has more than 90 recordings to its credit. In 1991 the city council appointed the orchestra Chamber Orchestra of the City of Bratislava.

Libor Pešek studied conducting, piano, cello and trombone at the Prague Academy of Music, where his teachers included Ančerl, Neumann, and Smetáček. In an interview with Bill Newman he had given wry memories of this period: ‘As my deceased colleague Zdenĕk Kosler remembers: “I was a self-taught person from the class of Professor Smetáček.” We were all there, but the professors never attended the classes—they were all away conducting…What the Academy gave us was time to be around music in Prague where Karel Ančerl was an enlightened, lucid person, a perfectionist when rehearsing the orchestra…Ančerl was an excellent conductor who was generous enough every second or third week to invite the big maestros of the world. We pupils experienced Erich Kleiber, Charles Munch, George Szell, all paraded in front of us. They were all different, and in those days Czech Philharmonic rehearsals started on Saturday and went on to Thursday when there was the first concert. There were five rehearsals for each concert, and we had time to watch and see how things should be done. Sir John Barbirolli came, and also brought the Hallé Orchestra. Except for Toscanini and Walter, they were all there.’

After graduating, Pešek worked as a répétiteur firstly at the Opera at Plzeň, the capital of West Bohemia, and then at the Prague National Theatre. He founded the wind group, the Prague Chamber Harmony, in 1958 and directed it until 1964: the group made a number of distinguished recordings for the Czech state record label, Supraphon. During this period he also conducted the Sebastian Orchestra, which was based in Prague, played jazz trombone and founded a swing orchestra. He had suggested that this is what gave him his feel for sound: ‘I think that with a big band the “sound” is almost everything.’ Between 1963 and 1969 he served as conductor of the North Bohemian Symphony Orchestra, based in Teplice; from 1970 to 1977 as conductor of the Czechoslovak State Chamber Orchestra in Pardubice; and then of the East Bohemian State Symphony Orchestra. At the same time Pešek was gaining valuable experience from working in Holland, where he was chief conductor of the Frysk (Frisian) Orchestra of Leeuwarden from 1969 to 1975 and of the Overýssel Philharmonic Orchestra from 1975 to 1979. He first appeared with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1972, and after a short period (1981–1982) as chief conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he recorded extensively, he served as the permanent conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from 1982 to 1990.

Following a highly successful debut in the United Kingdom in 1985 with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Pešek was invited to work with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and after only two concerts with the orchestra was appointed its chief conductor, with effect from 1987. He held this post for ten years, helping the orchestra to establish an international presence: with Pešek at the helm the orchestra toured the USA, the Far East and Europe with great success, and it was the first non-Czech orchestra to be invited to open the Prague Spring Festival, in May 1993. Pešek’s time with the RLPO also coincided with a relatively buoyant period for the record industry and together they made numerous distinguished recordings for the Virgin label, which further reinforced both his and the orchestra’s international reputations; Pešek had subsequently made several records with the orchestra for its own record label. For his services to music he was awarded an honorary knighthood in 1996, and after resigning as chief conductor in 1997, he maintained a close link with the RLPO as its conductor laureate, appearing with it each season.

With a firm international reputation, Pešek subsequently worked extensively as a guest conductor, appearing with many of the major American orchestras and throughout Europe, as well as in his home country; in addition he was principal guest conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. He was realistic about the limits of guest conducting, commenting that ‘…with just two or three rehearsals, you accept what is and just bring to the players’ attention certain traditional things that you think will work…But you can hardly expect any conductor…to change the sound or style of any orchestra in just three days. What is important is playing of integrity.’

Pešek favoured a very liquid style of conducting with an emphasis on highly refined phrasing and the most subtle orchestral textures. To achieve these characteristics in performance he was a conductor who stroked an orchestra rather than beats it. The exceptional results may easily be heard in his recordings. In addition he had the rare ability to generate an extremely powerful sense of atmosphere, especially in late-Romantic music, of which he was a notable exponent, in particular by Czech composers such as Suk. A man of great personal charm, he was admired by orchestral players and by audiences alike. His recorded repertoire was a good reflection of his strengths and achievements as a conductor.

© Naxos Rights International Ltd. — David Patmore (A–Z of Conductors, Naxos 8.558087–90).

The name of Louis Spohr remains well known to violinists, many of whom have been brought up to play some at least of his 15 violin concertos. He was born in Brunswick in 1784 and established himself as a leading virtuoso violinist and as a composer. As a conductor he made use of a baton, a practice unusual at the time and one that alarmed orchestral players in London, who anticipated aggressive intentions. From 1822 until his death in 1859 he was director of music at Kassel, a position initially offered him on the suggestion of Weber. His compositions include a number of works featuring violin and harp that were written for himself and his wife, the harpist Dorette Scheidler.

Orchestral Music

Symphonies

Spohr completed nine symphonies, leaving a tenth unfinished. The later symphonies illustrate his move from the Classical style that he had inherited to music with a programmatic element. They remain relative rarities in the concert hall today.

Concertos

Spohr wrote 15 violin concertos, the first completed in 1803 and the last in 1844. The best known of these is probably No. 8, which incorporates an operatic element. Other concertos include two double violin concertos and four concertos for clarinet. The latter are an important and popular part of solo clarinet repertoire and were written for the clarinettist Johann Simon Hermstedt.

Chamber Music

Spohr wrote some three dozen string quartets, an Octet, four double string quartets and seven quintets in addition to a number of violin duos of principal interest to teachers. The best known of his works for chamber ensemble is the Nonet for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and double bass.

Choral Music and Song

Spohr responded to the current fashion for oratorio, and also wrote other sacred and secular choral works. His 90 songs are an interesting if neglected element of German vocal repertoire.

Stage Works

Operas by Spohr, now generally neglected, include Jessonda among the better known. He also composed an opera on the subject of Faust.