Russian Sveshnikov Choir (Sveshnikov State Academic Russian Choir) |

Sveshnikov State Academic Russian Choir

State Academic Russian Choir named after A.V. Sveshnikova is a world-famous Russian choir. It is difficult to overestimate the creative contribution of the illustrious team to the preservation of the age-old singing traditions of the Fatherland.

Date of creation of the State Choir of the USSR – 1936; the collective arose on the basis of the vocal ensemble of the All-Union Radio Committee, founded by Alexander Vasilyevich Sveshnikov.

The years of artistic direction of Nikolai Mikhailovich Danilin, the coryphaeus of Russian choral art, were truly fateful for the State Choir. The professional foundations laid down by the great conductor predetermined the ways of the Choir’s creative development for many decades to come.

Since 1941, Alexander Vasilyevich Sveshnikov has again been at the head of the group, which received the name “State Choir of Russian Songs”. Thanks to his many years of selfless work, the Russian song sounded in full voice in many countries of the world. In the concert programs of the choir, masterpieces of Russian and world classics, works by contemporary composers were widely represented: D. Shostakovich, V. Shebalin, Yu. Shaporin, E. Golubev, A. Schnittke, G. Sviridov, R. Boyko, A. Flyarkovsky, R. Shchedrin and others. Outstanding conductors – Igor Markevich, Janos Ferenchik, Natan Rakhlin, Evgeny Svetlanov, Gennady Rozhdestvensky – performed with the ensemble. Among the truly huge number of stock recordings of the collective, a special place is occupied by the recording of S. Rachmaninov’s “All-Night Vigil”, released in 1966, awarded many international awards.

From 1980 to 2007, the legendary group was headed by a galaxy of famous Russian choir conductors: People’s Artist of the USSR Vladimir Nikolaevich Minin, People’s Artists of Russia Igor Germanovich Agafonnikov, Evgeny Sergeevich Tytyanko, Igor Ivanovich Raevsky.

From 2008 to 2012, the group was headed by the outstanding Russian choir conductor, People’s Artist of Russia, Professor Boris Grigoryevich Tevlin. Under his management, the State Choir named after A.V. Sveshnikov took part in: the International Festival of the Memory of T. Khrennikov (Lipetsk, 2008), the April Spring Festival (DPRK, 2009), festivals of world symphony orchestras in the Hall of Columns (with the participation of conductors V. Gergiev, M. Pletnev, A Anisimova, D. Lissa, A. Sladkovsky, 2008, 2009, 2010), the All-Russian Festival of Choral Music in the Kremlin (2009), the International Festival “Academy of Orthodox Music” (St. Petersburg, 2010), Valery Gergiev’s Moscow Easter Festivals ( in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, Ryazan, Kasimov, Nizhny Novgorod), the festival “Voices of Orthodoxy in Latvia” (2010), the Festival of Russian Culture in Japan (2010), the Second Grand Festival of the Russian National Orchestra in the Concert Hall named after P.I. Tchaikovsky (2010), the Boris Tevlin Choir Festival in the Kremlin (2010, 2011), in concerts in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory as part of the festivals Russian Winter, In Memory of Oleg Yanchenko, Schnittke and His Contemporaries, in the concert Day of the Slavic Literature and Culture” at the State Kremlin Palace, in concerts of the program of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation “All-Russian Philharmonic Seasons” (Orsk, Orenburg, 2011), a solemn concert dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the first space flight of Yu.A. Gagarin (Saratov, 2011), XXX International Orthodox Music Festival in Bialystok and Warsaw (Poland, 2011).

Since August 2012, the artistic director of the State Choir has been a student of B. G. Tevlin, laureate of All-Russian and international competitions, associate professor of the Moscow Conservatory Evgeny Kirillovich Volkov.

The repertoire of the State Choir includes a huge number of works by Russian composers, both classical and modern; Russian folk songs, popular songs of the Soviet period.

In the 2010-2011 concert season, the State Choir took part in the performance of Cinderella by G. Rossini (conductor M. Pletnev), Requiem by B. Tishchenko (conductor Yu. Simonov), Mass in B minor by I.S. Bach (conductor A. Rudin), the Fifth Symphony by A. Rybnikov (conductor A. Sladkovsky), the Ninth Symphony by L. van Beethoven (conductor K. Eschenbach); under the direction of Boris Tevlin were performed: the choirs “Oedipus Rex”, “The Defeat of Sennacherib”, “Jesus Nun” by M. Mussorgsky, “Twelve Choirs to Polonsky’s Poems” by S. Taneyev, the cantata “Mashkerad” by A. Zhurbin, Russian choral opera R. Shchedrin “Boyar Morozova”, choral compositions by A. Pakhmutova, a large number of works a cappella by domestic and foreign composers.

Source: Moscow Philharmonic website Photo from the official website of the choir