Ivan Karizna
© Lyodoh Kaneko
‘breathtaking and special’
‘A breathtaking and special musician... He modulates his sound enormously and can sing and saw, dance and attack, shimmering in the pianos and glowing in the fortes’
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Jurowski
Ivan Karizna is a storyteller with an exceptional gift of musical expression, known equally for his poetic interpretations and powerful stage presence. Described by András Schiff as ‘one of the best cellists of his generation’, he has won numerous awards, including at the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth Competitions.
In 2024–25 Karizna returns to the Cello Biennale Amsterdam to give three performances, tours Europe with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and and performs Weinberg’s Cello Concerto with Aarhus Symphony Orchestra under Dmitry Matvienko. He also joins Liza Ferschtman to play the Brahms ‘Double’ Concerto with the George Enescu Philharmonic, a piece which he will return to at the Concertgebouw the following season.
An avid chamber musician, this season he joins colleagues to perform in Rotterdam and Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw and returns to Elena Bashkirova’s Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, with whom he also tours Europe. Past chamber collaborations include with Gidon Kremer, András Schiff, Renaud Capuçon and Christian Tetzlaff.
Karizna plays the 1760 Tassini cello previously owned by Paul Tortelier, on generous loan from a member of the Stretton Society. He is a French citizen, dividing his time between Paris and Amsterdam.
‘You can play all the notes in tune, very fast, and it’s effective, but music only becomes art when you make a story – just like a painter or writer’
