Tchaikovsky. Piano Concerto No. 1

State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra) is one of the oldest symphony ensembles in the country: in 2021 it has celebrated its 85th anniversary. The first performance of the orchestra conducted by Alexander Gauk and Erich Kleiber, took place on October 5th, 1936 in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

Over the years, the State Orchestra was directed by outstanding musicians: Alexander Gauk (1936–1941), Natan Rakhlin (1941–1945), Konstantin Ivanov (1946–1965) and Yevgeny Svetlanov (1965–2000). In 2005, the ensemble was named after Yevgeny Svetlanov. In 2000–2002, the orchestra was headed by Vasily Sinaisky, in 2002–2011 – by Mark Gorenstein, in 2011–2021 – by Vladimir Jurowski, in 2021–2022  by Vasily Petrenko. Since 2024, Philipp Chizhevsky has been Artistic Director of the orchestra.

The orchestra’s concerts were held at the most famous concert venues in the world including the Great Hall of the Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, the Column Hall of the House of Unions, the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Pleyel in Paris, the Colon National Opera in Buenos Aires, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. In 2013, the orchestra for the first time performed in the Red Square in Moscow.

Herman Abendroth, Ernest Ansermet, Leo Blech, Nikolai Golovanov, Kurt Sanderling, Otto Klemperer, Kirill Kondrashin, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Mazur, Nikolai Malko, Igor Markevich, Yevgeny Mravinsky, Charles Munch, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Mstislav Rostropovich, Saulus Sondeckis, Igor Stravinsky, Mariss Jansons, Andrey Boreyko, Alexander Vedernikov, Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Alexander Lazarev, Alexander Sladkovsky, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Thomas Zehetmair, Mikhail Jurowski, Neeme Jarvi and other outstanding conductors directed at the conductor's desk of the orchestra.

Famous musicians and ensembles performed with the orchestra including singers Irina Arkhipova, Galina Vishnevskaya, Montserrat Caballé, Sergei Lemeshev, Elena Obraztsova, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Maria Guleghina, Placido Domingo, Jonas Kaufmann, Sergei Leiferkus, pianists Emil Gilels, Van Cliburn, Heinrich Neuhaus, Nikolai Petrov, Sviatoslav Richter, Maria Yudina, Valery Afanassiev, Boris Berezovsky, Elisso Virsaladze, Yevgeny Kissin, Nikolai Lugansky, Denis Matsuev and Grigory Sokolov, violinists LeonidKogan, Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, Boris Belkin, Maxim Vengerov, Gidon Kremer, Victor Pikaysen, Vadim Repin, Vladimir Spivakov and Victor Tretyakov, violist Yuri Bashmet , cellists Mstislav Rostropovich, Natalia Gutman, Alexander Knyazev and Alexander Rudin, as well as Sveshnikov State Academic Russian Choir and Yurlov State Academic Choir Capella of Russia.

In recent years, the list of soloists collaborating with the ensemble has been recruited with the names of such singers as Ildar Abdrazakov, Dinara Alieva, Aida Garifullina, Khibla Gerzmava, Dmitry Korchak, Elisabeth Kulman, Jose Kura, Vasily Ladyuk, Julia Lezhneva, Waltraud Meier, Anna Netrebko and Rene Pape, pianists Marc-Andre Hamelin, Leif Ove Andsnes, Rudolf Buchbinder, Simon Trpceski, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Mitsuko Uchida, violinists Kristof Barati, Ilya Gringolts, Alina Ibragimova, Leonidas Kavakos, Patricia Kopatchinskaya, Sergei Krylov, Julian Rakhlin, Julia Fischer, Thomas Zehetmair, Nikolai Znaider and Pinchas Zuckerman, violist Maxim Rysanov. Considerable attention is also paid to joint work with young musicians, including conductors Maxim Emelyanychev, Dmitry Matvienko, Marius Stravinsky, Valentin Uryupin and Philipp Chizhevsky, pianists Andrei Gugnin, Lucas Debargue, Philipp Kopachevsky and Dmitry Masleyev, violinists Alena Baeva, Pavel Milyukov and Aylen Pritchin, cellist Alexander Ramm.

Having visited abroad for the first time in 1956, the orchestra has since represented Russian art in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Denmark, Italy, Canada, China, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, USA, Thailand, France, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan and many other countries.

The discography of the ensemble includes hundreds of LP records and CDs released by leading recording companies in Russia and abroad (Melodiya, Bomba-Peter, Delos, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, BMG, Naxos, Chandos, Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm, BelAir, ICA Classics, Pentatone, Toccata Classics, Fancymusic and others). A special place in this collection belongs to the Anthology of Russian Symphonic Music, which includes audio recordings of works by Russian composers from Glinka to Stravinsky (conducted by Yevgeny Svetlanov). The TV channels such as Mezzo, medici.tv, Russia-1 and Kultura, radio Orpheus made recordings of the orchestra’s concerts.

Recently, the State Orchestra performed at the G. Enescu Festival in Bucharest, Another Space, Universe is Svetlanov! festivals and the XIV Guitar Virtuosos Moscow International Festival, Summer. Music. Museum  Festival in Istra; performed world premieres of works by Alexander Vustin, Victor Yekimovsky, Efrem Podgaits, Sergei Slonimsky, Vladimir Nikolaev, Alexei Retinsky, as well as Russian premieres of works by John Adams, Brett Dean, Gerard Grisey, Victor Kissin, Gyorgy Kurtag, Valentin Silvestrov, Olivier Messiaen, Rodion Shchedrin, Carl Orff, Vladimir Tarnopolsky and Karlheinz Stockhausen; took part in the  International Tchaikovsky Competition, the Grand Piano Competition for young pianists; presented the annual cycle of Stories with Orchestra educational concerts eight times; visited the cities of Russia, Austria, Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Germany, Spain, Romania, Turkey, China, Japan. Chamber evenings with the participation of soloists of the orchestra are also regularly held.

Since 2016, the State Orchestra has been implementing a special project to support professional composer creativity involving close cooperation of the ensemble with contemporary Russian authors. The first in the history composer in residence was Alexander Vustin. For outstanding creative achievements, the collective has been bearing the honorary title of “academic” since 1972; in 1986 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, in 2006, 2011 and 2017 it dignified the gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation.

Nikolai Tsinman was born in Moscow in 1993 to a musical family. In 2017 he graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory (violin class of Eduard Grach), and in 2020 he graduated from the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music (class of opera and symphony conducting of Andrei Rein). 

Has participated in masterclasses conducted by Yuri Simonov, Teodor Currentzis, Vladimir Ponkin, Valery Polyansky, Yair Kless, Boris Belkin, Zakhar Bron and Taras Gabora among others.

Prize-winner at the Yankelevich International Violin Competition (Omsk, 2009; 2nd prize), the Concertino Prague competition (2009; 3rd prize), the Nurgisa Tlendiev International Conducting Competition (Astana, 2017; 1st prize and “Orchestra Favourite” special prize) and the All-Russian Music Competition (Moscow, 2019; 2nd prize in the category “Opera and Symphony Conducting”). Recipient of a prize at the Homecoming International Chamber Music Festival (Moscow, 2009). Diploma-recipient at the Moscow International David Oistrakh Violin Competition (2010). Participant at the International Music Festival in Casalmaggiore (Italy, 2010), the Chigiana International Festival (Siena, Italy, 2012) and the Interlaken Classics Festival (Interlaken, Switzerland, 2013) in addition to the education programme of the Diaghilev Festival (Perm, 2017). Former grant-recipient of the Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation and the Mstislav Rostropovich Foundation. 

In 2014–2015 he was a violinist and assistant to the principal conductor of the Kaluga Youth Symphony Orchestra. In 2016–2017 he was a conductor of the Moscow Academic Satire Theatre. Since July 2018 he has been an assistant to the principal conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Has appeared with the Symphony and Chamber orchestras of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, Mariinsky Orchestra, Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra), Moscow Virtuosi State Chamber Orchestra, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra under Pavel Kogan, Symphony Orchestra and Moskovia Chamber Orchestra of the Moscow Conservatory, St Petersburg State Capella Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre, Rayevsky Vyatka Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the State Academic Philharmonic of Astana (today Nur-Sultan), Chamber Orchestra of the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music, Moscow Chamber Orchestra of the Pavel Slobodkin Centre and Prokofiev Donetsk Academic Symphony Orchestra among other ensembles. 

He was conductor of The Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky in an immersive production by Moscow’s Troyka Multispace club (2015, production revived in 2017). Participated in the world premiere of the opera Crime and Punishment by Karina Arsamikova at the Diaghilev Festival in Perm and a production of the opera L’elisir d’amore by Donizetti (Conlucia theatre) at the Compass Centre theatre loft in Moscow (2018). 

Has recorded a disc with the Chamber Orchestra of the Leonid Lundstrem Artistic Workshop to mark one century since the birth of Oleg Lundstrem (2016).

Alexander Klyuchko was born in 2000 in Saransk. He began to practice piano the age of six at Children's Music School No. 6 (class of Olesya Berezina). After training at the Children's School of Music at the Frederic Chopin Moscow State Junior College of Musical Performance, in 2015 he enrolled at the College’s main programme (class of Sergei Artsibashev) graduating with honours in 2019. At the International Engadin Summer Piano Academy Samedan, Switzerland, he trained under Rena Shereshevskaya (2017), before joining her class at the École Supérieure de Musique Alfred Cortot (Paris) in 2018–2021. Since 2021, Alexander has been a student of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory (class of Professor Pavel Nersessian).

Alexander Klyuchko has been a prize-winner of many international competitions and festivals, including Konstantin Igumnov Competition in Lipetsk, Alexei Nasedkin Competition in Yaroslavl (2nd prizes), The Path to Mastery in Moscow (2nd prize and Special Prize for Best Mozart Performance), International Vera Lotar-Shevchenko Memorial Competition in Yekaterinburg (1st prize), Competition at the Central Music School (1st prize), Virtuoso (two editions, receiving a special prize from the Yamaha Music Foundation at the second), Vladimir Krainev Piano Competition (laureate title and scholarship from the École Supérieure de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris), Youth Delphic Games in Yekaterinburg (Gold Medal among Russian participants and Silver Medal among CIS participants), Nariman Sabitov International Competition for Young Musicians in Ufa (1st prize), Astana Piano Passion (1st prize and Grand Prix), Île de France Competition (1st prize), Paloma O'Shea Competition in Santander, Spain (3rd prize), Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona, Spain (2nd prize), Manhattan International Music Competition in New York (Gold Medal). In 2017, he was awarded with a 1st grade Grant from the Mayor of Moscow. 

Alexander Klyuchko has performed at numerous venues, including the halls of the Moscow Conservatory and Moscow Philharmonic Society, Bolshoi Theater, Yamaha Art Center (Moscow), Alfred Cortot Hall in Paris, Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, Palau de Festivals de Cantabria in Santander (Spain), and others. He has appeared with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Capella, Irkutsk Governor's Symphony Orchestra, Rostov Academic Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra, Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, and Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, and taken part in such festivals as Stars on the Baikal in Irkutsk, Musical Olympus in St. Petersburg, and Gradus in Aarhus (Denmark).

Radio and TV journalist Artyom Vargaftik was born in 1971 in Moscow. He studied at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory’s Academic School of Music and the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music, then completed a postgraduate course at the Moscow Conservatory. He taught cello history at the Gnessin Academy of Music in 1997–2000 and was a trainer of music journalism in 2003–2006. 

While still a student, he began working on the radio as a correspondent, presenter, and creator of musical programs. His programs Orchestra Pit and Music Scores Never Burn on the Kultura TV channel brought him a wide recognition. Both projects were awarded with TEFI national television awards in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

From 1994 to 2003, Artyom Vargaftik worked as a music journalist on the Echo of Moscow radio, and since 2003 he has been a columnist for Kultura Radio and Radio of Russia. He has taken part in numerous festivals and concerts in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Samara, Saratov, Kazan, and other Russian cities. He has been a regular concert presenter at festivals led by Boris Andrianov, such as Vivacello and Musical Expedition. 

In 2007, he began to collaborate with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, and their active collaboration is still ongoing (in the 2021/22 season, Artyom is creating and hosting The Story of a Masterpiece series). Artyom Vargaftik is also a regular host of concert programs at the Moscow International House of Music.