Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra of Russia,
Brian Schembri, Alexander Knyazev

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.

One of the most brilliant musicians to emerge from Malta, Brian Schembri started his music studies under the guidance of his father Carmelo Schembri, very early establishing a reputation as a highly talented concert pianist, frequently performing on TV, radio and at public concert halls.

After he became the youngest ever to obtain the Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music (London) he continued his studies at the Kiev and Moscow “Tchaikowsky” State Conservatories. There he actively participated in the student concert life, both as pianist and conductor, winning first prize in the "Beethoven Concerto Competition". He obtained an M.A.(music) and did post-graduate course in piano with Alexander Snegiriov and Serguei Dorensky as well as conducting with Roman Kofman and Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

In 1989, he was appointed assistant conductor with Michel Plasson at the Orchestre du Capitole and the Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse, also collaborating with prestigious conductors James Judd, Edoardo Muller, Serge Baudo, Yuri Temirkanov, Garcia Navarro, Armin Jordan and Emmanuel Krivine.

He has been guest conductor with the State Philharmonic Orchestras of Ukraine, Macedonia, Kielce and Tirgu Muras, l'Orchestra Sinfonica di San Remo, l'Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy, the Sinfonietta, the London Mozart Players, l'Orchestre de Bretagne, l'Orchestra Ciutat de Barcelona, the Philharmonic Orchestras of Odessa, Brasov, Novosibirsk, the Moscow Soloists, the Academic Orchestra of Lisbon, l'Orchestre Philharmonique de France, Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, the Chamber Orchestra of Geneva, l'Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, l'Orchestre National de Lyon, Sofia National Opera Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, EU Chamber orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Brian Schembri has been Chief Conductor of the OPF (Orchestre Philharmonique de France), the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa. More recently he was Music Director and Consultant of Malta National Theatre “Teatru Manoel” and is currently Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. Brian Schembri has been awarded the Malta Cultural Award and the Medal for Service to the Republic.

He has collaborated with soloists Lucia Aliberti, Tatiana Lisnic, Karen Huffstodt, Sandrine Piau, Jose Cura, Joseph Calleja, Gianluca Terranova, Oleg Kulko, Alexandre Da Costa, Alexander Kniazev, Colin Carr, Sergey Antonov, Ludmila Berlinskaia, Oleg Polianksy, Balazs Szokolay, Anne Queffelec, Emma Johnson and has performed at the “Festival Massenet”, “Kiev Symphonic Evenings”, “Octobre en Normandie”, “Les Rencontres Musicales d'Evian”, “Festa da Musica”, “Lisboa em Festa”, transmitted live on Eurovision, “Festival MusicAtlantico”, "Fêtes de Genève", “Festival de Piano Vendôme”, “Henley Festival”, “Kings Lynn Festival”, “G7 Summit Concert” in Lyon which was televised internationally. He has also conducted opera productions with ARCAL, Ensemble Justiniana, the Atelier Lyrique du Centre, Opera Nomade (Paris), the Rennes and Nancy Opera Theatres, the National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Lvov, Opera Hong Kong, Lübeck Opera Theatre and has composed music for theatre productions at the Manoel Theatre and Teatru Strada Stretta in Malta and the Comédie Française in Paris.

Besides giving piano recitals in Malta, Italy, France, Ukraine, Switzerland, Germany, Russia and Great Britain, he has recorded a CD Piano Recital of sonatas by Beethoven, Schubert and Rachmaninov and other CDs of works by Charles Camilleri with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (Divine Art Diversions DDV24126) as well as four Bach concertos with the European Union Chamber Orchestra (Divine Art DDA 25128)

Receiving critical acclaim as an artist of high caliber for his strongly passionate and lyrical performances, he has forged a strong reputation for a moving profound musicality.

Real successor of Mstilav Rostropovitch, Alexander Kniazev studied the cello at the Moscow Conservatory under Alexander Fedorchenko and learnt to play the organ under the famous Miss G. Kozlova. He won the International Cello contest of G. Cassado, the International contest of chamber music of Trapani and the International contest of Pretoria (UNISA) in South Africa. Alexander Kniazev has played under conductors like: E. Svetlanov, Y. Temirkanov, M. Rostropovitch, Y. Bashmet, V. Fedoseyev, M. Shostakovitch, N. Järvi, K. Mazur, A. Vedernikov, with orchestras such as USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Royal Philharmonic of London, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmoniuqe de Radio France, Göteborg Symphonic, Den Haag Residentie Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Prague Philharmonic… He was also invited at the Moscow festival “December Nights”, which was organised by S. Richter, who has influenced him a lot. His partners in chamber music are Evgeny Kissin, Vadim Repin, Boris Berezovsky, Plamena Mangova and Nikolaï Lugansky. In 2012, Martha Argerich invited him to play at her Lugano Festival. Alexander Kniazev also performed as a trio with Boris Berezovsky and Dmitri Makhtin on the prestigious scenes of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, of the Brussels Palace of Fine Arts, at the London Wigmore Hall, at the Salzburg Festival, and will soon perform at the Lincoln Center of New York. Among this season’s concerts, there will be the Musikverein of Vienna with Vladimir Fedoseyev in March 2009, the Dvorak concerto at the Salle Pleyel of Paris, and the Montpellier festival in July 2009 with Evgeny Kissin and Silvia Marcovici. In 2010, Alexander Kniazev peformed the Six Bach suites at the Philharmonia of Saint Petersburg. The Trio also recorded a DVD dedicated to Tchaikovsky with the pieces for piano, violin and cello, and the Trio Elégiaque «A la mémoire d’un grand artiste». This DVD was awarded the «Diapason d’or». His Ernest Bloch CD, «Schelomo», which was recorded with the Russian State Symphonic Orchestra /Maestro Svetlanov, was highly acclaimed by the International musical press. Furthermore, his «Max Reger» CD was chosen amongst the best by the French music magazine «Répertoire». Recordings with Warner Classics International include a CD of the Bach cello suites, the Shostakovitch Trio No.2 and the Rachmaninov Trio Elégiaque with Boris Berezovsky and Dmitri Makhtin, which was awarded the «Gramophone prize», the «Diapason d’Or» and the «Echo Award». On the same label, Alexander Kniazev also recorded a Tchaikovsky album with the Chamber Orchestra of Moscow/Constantin Orbelian including the Variations Rococo, Andante Cantabile and Romances, and the two Mendelssohn trios with Dmitri Makhtin and Boris Berezovsky which were awarded the «Echo Award». Lontano /Warner Classics International are releasing in March 2009 the Dvorak cello concerto with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow, and Vladimir Fedoseyev and went on an European tour with the same programme. His forthcoming projects include, among other, tours in Germany with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra/Vladimir Fedoseyev, in France and Russia with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris/Kazuki Yamada; concerts at the Folle Journée de Nantes, Tokyo and Warsaw, with the Jerusalemn Symphonic Orchestra/Emil Tabakov, recitals at the Verdi Conservatoire of Milan, Taiwan National Concert Hall; chamber music in Russia with Nicolai Lugansky, in Paris Salle Pleyel with Denis Matsuev, in Lugano with Martha Argerich and with Evgeny Kissin in many french festival…