He began learning the cello with Herman Dirr in Munich to continue it with Ulrich Voss from Saarbrücken. Having studied with Claus Kanngiesser, he continued studies in Lubeck with David Geringas, and later in New York’s Julliard School of Music where he studied with Zara Nelsova, and to Basel to learn from Heinrich Schiff.
Gustav Rivinius’s path to world career opened with the 1st Prize and the Golden Medal of the 9th International Pyotr Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, a distinction awarded for the first time to a German musician. He concretised with Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Leipzig, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra Lissabon, Bamberger Symphoniker, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Berliner Sinfonieorchester, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Washington, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and radio symphonic orchestras of Saarbrücken, Munich, Berlin and Stuttgart.
Chamber music holds an important place in the artistic activity of Gustav Rivinius who regularly plays with colleagues/friends of great renown including Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, and Sharon Kam.
His solo performances are complemented by appearances at prestigious festivals, including Lars Vogt’s Heimbach Festivals where he is a regular guest.
Harmonia Mundi has released the artist’s CD with sonatas by Brahms, Boccherini, and Zimmermann. Besides those, Gustav Rivinius recorded also all Beethoven’s cello sonatas for WDR in Cologne. His repertoire covers also contemporary music: e.g. the Cello Concerto “Bardo” by Hans Zender whose premiere, directed by the composer himself, he performed with Musikkollegium Winterthur.
In 1997, together with Ani Kavafian (violin) and Barbara Westphal (viola), Gustav Rivinius established the Trio Da Salò. Gustav Rivinius is a professor of cello at the Saarbrücken Musikhochschule.