State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia (State Academic Symphony Orchestra “Evgeny Svetlanov”) |

State academic symphony orchestra «Evgeny Svetlanov»

The State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia named after Svetlanov (until 1991 – the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the USSR, abbreviated GAS or State Orchestra) has been one of the leading bands in the country for more than 75 years, the pride of the national musical culture.

The first performance of the State Orchestra took place on October 5, 1936 in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. A few months later, a tour of the cities of the USSR was made.

The group was led by outstanding musicians: Alexander Gauk (1936-1941), who has the honor of creating the orchestra; Natan Rakhlin (1941-1945), who led it during the Great Patriotic War; Konstantin Ivanov (1946-1965), who first presented the State Orchestra to foreign audiences; and “the last romantic of the 1965th century” Yevgeny Svetlanov (2000-2000). Under the leadership of Svetlanov, the orchestra became one of the best symphony ensembles in the world with a huge repertoire that included all Russian music, almost all the works of Western classical composers and a huge number of works by contemporary authors. In 2002-2002 the orchestra was led by Vasily Sinaisky, in 2011-XNUMX. — Mark Gorenstein.

On October 24, 2011, Vladimir Yurovsky was appointed artistic director of the group.

On October 27, 2005, the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia was named after E.F. Svetlanov in connection with the conductor’s invaluable contribution to Russian musical culture.

Concerts of the State Orchestra were held in the most prestigious halls of the world, including the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington , Musikverein in Vienna, Albert Hall in London, Pleyel in Paris, Colon National Opera House in Buenos Aires, Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Behind the conductor’s podium were world-famous stars: Hermann Abendroth, Ernest Ansermet, Leo Blech, Valery Gergiev, Nikolai Golovanov, Kurt Sanderling, Arnold Katz, Erich Kleiber, Otto Klemperer, André Kluitans, Franz Konwichny, Kirill Kondrashin, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur , Nikolai Malko, Ion Marin, Igor Markevich, Alexander Melik-Pashaev, Yehudi Menuhin, Evgeny Mravinsky, Charles Munsch, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Mstislav Rostropovich, Samosud Samosud, Saulius Sondeckis, Igor Stravinsky, Yuri Temirkanov, Carlo Zecchi, Fritz Shtidri, Arvid and Mariss Jansons and other wonderful conductors.

Outstanding musicians performed with the orchestra, including Irina Arkhipova, Yuri Bashmet, Eliso Virsaladze, Emil Gilels, Natalia Gutman, Placido Domingo, Konstantin Igumnov, Montserrat Caballe, Oleg Kagan, Van Cliburn, Leonid Kogan, Vladimir Krainev, Sergey Lemeshev, Margarita Long , Yehudi Menuhin, Heinrich Neuhaus, Lev Oborin, David Oistrakh, Nikolai Petrov, Peter Pierce, Svyatoslav Richter, Vladimir Spivakov, Grigory Sokolov, Viktor Tretyakov, Henrik Schering, Samuil Feinberg, Yakov Flier, Annie Fischer, Maria Yudina. Recently, the list of soloists collaborating with the team has been replenished with the names of Alena Baeva, Alexander Buzlov, Maxim Vengerov, Maria Guleghina, Evgeny Kissin, Alexander Knyazev, Miroslav Kultyshev, Nikolai Lugansky, Denis Matsuev, Vadim Rudenko, Alexander Rudin, Maxim Fedotov, Dmitry Hvorostovsky .

Having traveled abroad for the first time in 1956, since then the orchestra has regularly presented Russian art in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Canada, China, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, USA, Thailand , Turkey, France, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan and other countries, takes part in major international festivals and promotions.

A special place in the repertory policy of the State Orchestra is the implementation of many touring, charitable and educational projects, including concerts in Russian cities, performances in hospitals, orphanages and educational institutions.

The band’s discography includes hundreds of records and CDs released by leading companies in Russia and abroad (“Melody”, “Bomba-Piter”, “EMI Classics”, “BMG”, “Naxos”, “Chandos”, “Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm” and others). A special place in this collection is occupied by the famous Anthology of Russian Symphonic Music, which includes audio recordings of works by Russian composers from M. Glinka to A. Glazunov, and which Yevgeny Svetlanov has been working on for many years.

The creative path of the State Orchestra is a series of achievements that have rightfully received wide international recognition and are forever inscribed in the history of world culture.

Source: official website of the orchestra