Gustav Rivinius is the first and only German musician to be awarded a first prize Gold Medal at the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. In addition, he received a special prize for the best interpretation of a Tchaikovsky composition. Since then he has appeared with leading musicians, orchestras and conductors around the world.
During his illustrious career, Rivinius has performed with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Ingo Metzmacher, Hans Zender, Vacklav Neumann, Horst Stein, Manfred Honeck, Alan Gilbert and Thomas Dausgaard as well as with orchestras like Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchester, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, Konzerthaus Orchester, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg and all of Germany’s Radio Symphony Orchestras. In the US, he has performed with conductors like Marek Janowski, Christoph Eschenbach and with orchestras in Pittsburg, Saint Louis, Cincinnati, Washington D.C. and Houston. Rivinius has also appeared widely in Canada, including concerts with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under Sergiu Comissiona and London Philharmonia under Heinrich Schiff. In Tokyo, he took the stage with Moscow Philharmonic under Dmitri Kitayenko and in Seoul with KBS Symphony Orchestra under Michael Christie. In Beijing, he performed with National Ballet Orchestra. Besides the orchestras of Lisbon, Toulouse, Lyon, Helsinki and Swedish Radio Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, Rivinius went on a concert tour in Switzerland performing the concertos by Honegger and Schumann with Tonhalle Orchester Zurich under David Zinman.
Along with his solo work, Gustav Rivinius has a passion for chamber music. He plays regularly alongside his brothers in the Rivinius Piano Quartet and does recitals with his brother Paul at the piano. He participated for years in a quintet with Irena Grafenauer, Maria Graf, Ana Chumachenco and Gérard Caussé. Rivinius is also an annual participant in the Heimbach Spannungen festival along with Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff, Angje Weithaas, Isabelle Faust and Sharon Kam. Besides Arkas Trio, he is also co-founder of Gasparo da Saló Trio, Bartholdy String Quintet and Tammuz Piano Quartet.
CPO has released CDs featuring Gustav Rivinius’ performance of the Cello Concerto by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, accompanied by the HR Sympony Orchestra under Alan Francis, and Arte Nova has released a recital of “Ode to the West Wind” with the RSO Saarbrucken under Stanislaw Skrowaczewki. He recorded the Brahms Clarinet Trio with Sharon Kam and Martin Helmchen for Berlin Classics and made a recording of the Cello Concerto by Witold Lutoslawski with the National Youth Orchestra of Germany under Ari Rasilainen.
Gustav Rivinius is a professor at the University of Music in Saarbrucken and teaches at the Maastricht Conservatory. He gives also and a number of master courses annually, including at the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival. In addition he is a sought after juror at major music competitions and sat on the jury at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. In 2016 he was awarded the “Kunstpreis des Saarlandes”.