Smolny Cathedral Chamber Choir |

Smolny Cathedral Chamber Choir

One of the most famous choirs in St. Petersburg – the Chamber Choir of the Smolny Cathedral – was founded in 1991. From the day of its foundation, its leaders were Stanislav Legkov, Andrey Petrenko and Eduard Krotman. In 2004, Honored Artist of Russia Vladimir Begletsov became the chief conductor and artistic director of the choir. The youth of the maestro, his excellent education (piano, conductor-choir and conductor-symphony faculties of the St. Petersburg Conservatory), experience with the Academic Capella, many years of teaching experience at the Glinka Choir School contributed to the true flowering of the choir.

In addition to the compositions of Russian and Western European classics, which are obligatory for every professional group, the Chamber Choir of the Smolny Cathedral performs music of the 2006th century and rarely performed works: from the cantes of Peter the Great to the last opuses of Desyatnikov. The choir embodies with equal perfection the most difficult scores by Taneyev and Shostakovich, Orff and Penderetsky, Schnittke and Stravinsky. It was in the performance of the Chamber Choir of the Smolny Cathedral in XNUMX in St. Petersburg that Penderetsky’s Matins was performed for the first time, in the same year the world premiere of Sviridov’s cantata The Scourge of Juvenal took place.

Today’s level of performing skills of the Choir fully corresponds to the breadth of interests of its artistic director. Almost every one of the thirty-two choristers, graduates or students of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, can cope with the solo part. In accordance with the definition of “chamber”, present in the name of the band, Begletsov achieves mastery of sound, his attention is always drawn to the smallest phrasing details. At the same time, the Chamber Choir of the Smolny Cathedral with great success presents such monumental canvases as Verdi’s Requiem or Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil. The chamber choir of the Smolny Cathedral is a truly modern ensemble. In his vocal style, the European lightness and graphic quality of voice leading are organically combined with the original Russian saturation of the timbre.

The ensemble regularly performs in Smolny, St. Isaac’s, St. Sampson Cathedrals, the Church of the Savior on Blood (Church of the Resurrection of Christ), in the halls of the Philharmonic Society and the Chapel, and takes part in numerous festivals, including the All-Russian Choral Assemblies and the Easter Festival. He has toured in Holland, Spain, Poland, Slovenia and Estonia. Among his regular creative partners are the symphony orchestras of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the State Hermitage, the State Capella; conductors N. Alekseev, V. Gergiev, A. Dmitriev, K. Kord, V. Nesterov, K. Penderetsky, G. Rozhdestvensky, S. Sondetskis, Yu. Temirkanov, V. Chernushenko and others.