Aussie Musicians Mourn Greek Violinist

Spiros Rantos died in Brisbane on Friday, September 27.

Violinist Spiros Rantos and wife, pianist Brachi Tilles. Photo courtesy SlippeDisc

Obituary by Breandáin O’Shea

Born in Corfu in 1945, Rantos studied in Athens and, at 18, was offered a position at Linz Opera by its visiting chief conductor.

Rantos continued his education at the Vienna Musikhochschule under Eduard Melkus and Ricardo Odnoposoff. He was concertmaster of the Capella Academica in Vienna in 1968 and taught at the Graz Conservatorium. He later studied with Franco Gulli at Indiana University in the US. 

His exceptional talent was recognised with chamber music prizes from competitions in Italy and France. Throughout his career, Rantos recorded for prestigious labels including Deutsche Grammophon (Ed: actually the early music and Baroque arm of DG, Archiv Produktion), Harmonia Mundi, and Grevillea Records, and was regularly featured in national broadcasts across Europe, Asia and Australia.

In 1976, he came with the Vienna-based chamber group Ensemble I to Australia for a residency in Melbourne. This ensemble featured talented musicians from around the world, including Rantos’ partner of more than 50 years, Israeli-born pianist Brachi Tilles. All but one of the group’s members remained in Australia, making a significant and lasting contribution to the country’s musical community.

 

Together with Tilles, he formed one of Australia’s finest chamber music duos, often collaborating with many of the country’s top musicians and performing throughout Australia and internationally.

Rantos went on to found the Rantos Collegium, later known as The Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, where he served as artistic director and conductor.

A devoted teacher, Rantos shaped the careers of many through his positions at the Victorian College of the Arts, the University of Southern Queensland, and the University of Melbourne. He retired as senior lecturer at the University of Queensland in 2009 but continued teaching privately. Many of his students perform with leading orchestras around the world or have become educators themselves.

Beyond his remarkable performing and teaching career, Rantos was a mentor and friend, inspiring countless musicians beyond his violin class. He worked with youth orchestras and amateur groups across Australia, sharing his passion for music. His warmth, kindness and infectious sense of humour left a lasting impression on everyone fortunate enough to know him. Spiros Rantos will be deeply missed, but his legacy in the music world and the lives he touched will be lovingly remembered.

Published at SlippeDisc, September 29, 2024

Breandáin O’Shea is an Australian musician, pedagogue, and arts journalist who has called Germany home since the early 90s. With a career spanning more than three decades, O'Shea has made a profound impact on the arts scene, both locally and globally. For over 20 years, O’Shea curated and hosted two award-winning weekly arts programs for Deutsche Welle, showcasing appreciation for diverse artistic forms. His expertise has also been shared as a guest lecturer at Berlin’s University of the Arts, the Goethe Institute, and Norway's Stavanger University. O'Shea's impressive list of interviewees reads like a who's who of the arts world, including luminaries such as Daniel Barenboim, Roddy Doyle, Sting, Christo, and Jessye Norman. 

His insightful conversations have resonated with audiences worldwide, cementing his reputation as a leading voice in the arts community. Based in Berlin, O’Shea continues to foster cultural discourse through various mediums, from producing podcasts to crafting radio documentaries, collaborating with renowned media outlets such as the ABC and DW.

Among O’Shea’s accolades are a Gold Medal from the New York Festival Radio Awards for the most outstanding arts program and a World Radio Award, highlighting his talent and unwavering dedication to the arts.

In addition to his journalistic endeavours, O’Shea is deeply committed to music education, offering private lessons in Berlin. With a focus on improvisation, jazz techniques, and composition, he imparts his knowledge and expertise to aspiring musicians.

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Site administrator Tony Magee says: “Very sad news indeed. A world class violinist. I first encountered him when he became chief conductor of the Frankston Symphony Orchestra in 1978. I was just a teenager at the time. I reviewed two concerts by his and Brachi’s ‘Ensemble I’ in 1995 and 1996 in Canberra for Pro Musica in Muse Magazine. And then just two months ago violinist Tor Frømyhr lent me a cassette tape of a recording he had done with Spiros in the early 1980s - the Bach Double (with Brisbane Festival Orchestra), great performance. I’ve digitised that for preservation. My love and sincere condolences to Brachi and Alexi.”