State Academic Symphony Capella of Russia |

State Symphony Capella of Russia

The State Academic Symphony Chapel of Russia is a grandiose ensemble with over 200 artists. It unites vocal soloists, choir and orchestra, which, existing in an organic unity, at the same time retain a certain creative independence.

GASK was formed in 1991 by the merger of the State Chamber Choir of the USSR under the direction of V. Polyansky and the State Symphony Orchestra of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, headed by G. Rozhdestvensky. Both teams have come a long way. The orchestra was founded in 1957 and immediately took its rightful place among the best symphonic ensembles in the country. Until 1982, he was the orchestra of the All-Union Radio and Television, at various times it was led by S. Samosud, Y. Aranovich and M. Shostakovich: since 1982 – GSO of the Ministry of Culture. The chamber choir was created by V. Polyansky in 1971 from among the students of the Moscow State Conservatory (subsequently the composition of the choristers was expanded). Participation in the Guido d’Arezzo International Competition of Polyphonic Choirs in Italy in 1975 brought him a real triumph, where the choir received gold and bronze medals, and V. Polyansky was recognized as the best conductor of the competition and awarded a special prize. In those days, the Italian press wrote: “This is a genuine Karajan of choral conducting, with an exceptionally bright and flexible musicality.” After this success, the team confidently stepped onto the big concert stage.

Today, both the choir and the GASK orchestra are unanimously recognized as one of the most high-class and creatively interesting musical groups in Russia.

The first performance of the Capella with the performance of A. Dvorak’s cantata “Wedding Shirts” conducted by G. Rozhdestvensky took place on December 27, 1991 in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and was an outstanding success, which set the creative level of the group and determined its high professional class.

Since 1992, the Capella has been headed by Valery Polyansky.

The Capella’s repertoire is truly limitless. Thanks to a special “universal” structure, the team has the opportunity to perform not only masterpieces of choral and symphonic music belonging to different eras and styles, but also appeals to huge layers of the cantata-oratorio genre. These are masses and other works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Rossini, Bruckner, Liszt, Grechaninov, Sibelius, Nielsen, Szymanowski; requiems by Mozart, Verdi, Cherubini, Brahms, Dvorak, Fauré, Britten; John of Damascus by Taneyev, The Bells by Rachmaninov, The Wedding by Stravinsky, oratorios and cantatas by Prokofiev, Myaskovsky, Shostakovich, vocal and symphonic works by Gubaidulina, Schnittke, Sidelnikov, Berinsky and others (many of these performances became world or Russian premieres) .

In recent years, V. Polyansky and the Capella have paid special attention to concert performances of operas. The number and variety of operas prepared by GASK, many of which have not been performed in Russia for decades, are amazing: Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki, Enchantress, Mazepa and Eugene Onegin, Nabucco, Il trovatore and Louise Miller by Verdi, The Nightingale and Oedipus Rex by Stravinsky, Sister Beatrice by Grechaninov, Aleko by Rachmaninov, La bohème by Leoncavallo, Tales of Hoffmann by Offenbach, The Sorochinskaya Fair by Mussorgsky, The Night Before Christmas by Rimsky-Korsakov, André Chenier » Giordano, Cui’s Feast in Time of Plague, Prokofiev’s War and Peace, Schnittke’s Gesualdo…

One of the foundations of the Capella’s repertoire is the music of the 2008th century and today. The team is a regular participant of the International Festival of Contemporary Music “Moscow Autumn”. In autumn XNUMX he took part in the Fifth International Gavrilinsky Music Festival in Vologda.

The chapel, its choir and orchestra are frequent and welcome guests in the regions of Russia and in many countries of the world. In recent years, the band has successfully toured the UK, Hungary, Germany, Holland, Greece, Spain, Italy, Canada, China, the USA, France, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden…

Many outstanding Russian and foreign performers collaborate with the Capella. A particularly close and long-term creative friendship connects the team with G. N. Rozhdestvensky, who annually presents his personal philharmonic subscription with the State Architectural Complex.

Capella’s discography is extremely extensive, with about 100 recordings (most for Chandos), incl. all choral concertos by D. Bortnyansky, all symphonic and choral works by S. Rachmaninov, many works by A. Grechaninov, almost unknown in Russia. A recording of Shostakovich’s 4th symphony has recently been released, and Myaskovsky’s 6th symphony, Prokofiev’s War and Peace, and Schnittke’s Gesualdo are being prepared for release.

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