Alexander Vedernikov |

Alexander Vedernikov

Alexander Vedernikov is a prominent representative of the national conducting school. The son of an outstanding singer, soloist of the Bolshoi Theater Alexander Vedernikov and organist, professor of the Moscow Conservatory Natalia Gureeva.

Born in 1964 in Moscow. In 1988 he graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory (class of opera and symphony conducting of Professor Leonid Nikolaev, also improved with Mark Ermler), in 1990 – postgraduate studies. In 1988–1990 worked at the Moscow Academic Musical Theater named after Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko. In 1988–1995 – assistant to the chief conductor and second conductor of the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company of the USSR (since 1993 – BSO named after P. I. Tchaikovsky). In 1995, he stood at the origins of the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra and until 2004 was its chief conductor and artistic director.

In 2001–2009 served as chief conductor and musical director of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia. Conductor-producer of the operas Adrienne Lecouvrere by Cilea, Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, Verdi’s Falstaff, Puccini’s Turandot, Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila in the original version, Boris Godunov in the author’s version, Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, ” Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky, “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia” by Rimsky-Korsakov (together with the Opera House of Cagliari, Italy), “War and Peace”, “Fiery Angel” and “Cinderella” by Prokofiev, “Children of Rosenthal” by Desyatnikov. Constantly held concerts of the Bolshoi Theater Symphony Orchestra, including on the stages of the theaters of Covent Garden and La Scala.

He performed at the podium of the best symphonic ensembles in Russia, including the State Orchestra named after E.F. Svetlanov, ZKR orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia. For several years (since 2003) he was a member of the conductor’s board of the Russian National Orchestra.

In 2009–2018 – Principal Conductor of the Odense Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), currently – honorary conductor of the orchestra. In 2016–2018 staged the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen by Wagner with an orchestra. All four operas premiered in May 2018 at Odense’s new Odeon Theatre. Since 2017 he has been Principal Conductor of the Royal Danish Orchestra, since autumn 2018 he has been Principal Conductor of the Royal Danish Opera. In February 2019, he took up the position of musical director and chief conductor of the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

As a guest maestro, he regularly performs with leading orchestras in Great Britain (BBC, Birmingham Symphony, London Philharmonic), France (Radio France Philharmonic, Orchester de Paris), Germany (Dresden Chapel, Bavarian Radio Orchestra), Japan (orchestra Corporation NHK, Tokyo Philharmonic), Sweden (Royal Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony), USA (National Symphony in Washington), Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Czech Republic, Canada, China, Australia, Brazil and many other countries .

Since the mid-1990s, Vedernikov has regularly led opera and ballet performances at the Deutsche Oper and Comische Oper theaters in Berlin, theaters in Italy (La Scala in Milan, La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, the Royal Theater in Turin, the Rome Opera), London Royal Theater Covent Garden, Paris National Opera. Conducted at the Metropolitan Opera, Finnish and Danish National Operas, theaters in Zurich, Frankfurt, Stockholm, at the Savonlinna Opera Festival.

Russian classics occupy a special place in the maestro’s vast repertoire – masterpieces by Glinka, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Shostakovich. The conductor constantly includes works by Sviridov, Weinberg, Boris Tchaikovsky in his programs.

Recordings by Alexander Vedernikov with various bands have been released by EMI, Russian Disc, Agora, ARTS, Triton, Polygram/Universal. In 2003, he signed a contract with the Dutch company PentaTone Classics, which specializes in the production of SuperAudio CDs (Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, excerpts from operas and suites from ballets by Russian composers).

In 2007, Alexander Vedernikov was awarded the honorary title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.

PS Passed away on October 30, 2020.

Source: Moscow Philharmonic website