Vladimir Orloff

Vladimir Orloff took his first lessons with his father, a cello teacher, and then studied in Rumania at the Bucharest Cons, making his debut with the Bucharest Philharmonic in 1947. In 1953 he won first prize in the Bucharest International Competition and was designated a state soloist. He also won major awards in competitions in Warsaw in 1955 and in Geneva in 1957. From 1957 to 1964 he toured widely in Rumania, eastern Europe, and China. He was a member 1964-6 of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, taught 1967-70 at the Vienna Academy, and was a jury member for the 1967 International Cello Competition in Vienna. During his years in Vienna he visited other countries. He was a soloist in 1965 with the Philharmonia of Montreal, in 1968 with the Bournemouth SO under Silvestri and the New Philharmonia of London under Boult, and in 1970 with the ORTF orchestra of Paris under Parisot. He also performed at the English Bach Festival in 1969.

Orloff emigrated to Canada in 1971 to become principal cello teacher at the University of Toronto. He continued in this position in 1991. He made his Toronto debut at the St Lawrence Centre in 1971. He subsequently appeared as soloist with various Canadian orchestras, including the MSO, the Montreal Philharmonia Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the TS (several times, playing concertos of Shostakovitch, Saint-Saëns, Khatchaturian, etc), the Chamber Players of Toronto, the NACO, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic,the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, and the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra. He has given numerous recitals and masterclasses in Canada and the USA. In 1982 Orloff was featured in The Art of the Cello, a CBC sponsored series of three broadcast concerts presenting works of Bach, Brahms, and favourites of the cello repertoire. He has recorded Vieru, Khatchaturian, and Schumann concertos for Electrachord Bucharest (the Schumann and Vieru reissued on Masters of the Bow MB-1044), Haydn concertos for Schallplatten Munich, a recital for Supraphon, and encore pieces for Fidelio (1977, F-002). In 1975 his recording of works by Kabalevsky, Coulthard, and Morawetz was issued by the CBC (SM-305; Coulthard reissued on 6-ACM 10 and Morawetz on 6-ACM 16).

See also Discography for Fenyves.