Moscow State Symphony Orchestra,
Vladimir Ponkin, Vyacheslav Gryaznov

The MSSO was founded in 1943 by the USSR government and is one of the oldest symphony orchestras in Russia. Leo Steinberg, the Peoples Artist of USSR and conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre, became the MSSO first Chief Conductor, a post he held until his death in 1945. He was succeeded by a series of distinguished Soviet musical giants that has included Nicolay Anosov (1945–1950), Leo Ginsburg (1950–1954), Mikhail Terian (1954–1960), Veronica Dudarova (1960–1989), and Pavel Kogan (1989–2022). Owing to the collaboration with such figures the orchestra became one of most prominent national symphonic ensembles, but in the first place it was known through its performances of Russian and Soviet classical music, involving many premieres of Myaskovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Glier.

The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra became renowned around the globe under the leadership of Pavel Kogan. In 1989 he was engaged as Music Director and Chief Conductor and immediately enriched the orchestra repertoire by the works of European and American musical literature. A landmark of the MSSO has been to present the great cycles of complete symphonic works from leading composers: Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, R. Strauss, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Bruckner, Sibelius, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Scriabin, Berlioz, Debussy and Ravel. The orchestra’s wide-ranging programs combine great orchestral, operatic, and choral classics with equally significant music of the 21st century, including many forgotten or neglected works. 

The MSSO plays some 100 concerts annually. Along with the series in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and in Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra performs in the Great Hall of the Saint-Petersburg Shostakovich Philharmonic Society and on the stages of many other Russian cities. The MSSO tours regularly overseas including the USA, United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, Austria, Italy, Germany, France, South Korea, Australia, China and Switzerland. The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra also has a long and distinguished recording history with DVD and CD studio and live recordings, television and radio broadcasts. In 1990 the Pioneer made a live recording of Tchaikovsky’ piano and violin concertos, performed by the MSSO and Maestro Kogan (soloists – Aleksey Sultanov, Maxim Vengerov). In the early 1990s Russian television released the documentary Travels with the orchestra about the MSSO and Pavel Kogan tour in Europe and Saint-Petersburg. Their Rachmaninov cycle, released by Alto, which recorded all the symphonies and Symphonic Dances, has become a chart-topping album.

The MSSO has a proud history of collaborating with eminent conductors and soloists including Evgeny Svetlanov, Kirill Kondrashin, Aleksandr Orlov, Natan Rakhlin, Samuil Samosud, Valery Gergiev, David Oistrakh, Emil Gilels, Leonid Kogan, Vladimir Sofronitsky, Sergei Lemeshev, Ivan Kozlovsky, Svyatoslav Knushevitsky, Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich and Daniil Shafran. 

Vladimir Ponkin is one of Russia's leading contemporary conductors. He was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia (2002) and two Golden Mask National Theatre Awards (2001, 2003). By the decision of the Ministry of Culture and Arts of the Republic of Poland, maestro was awarded a Medal for Merits to Polish Culture (1997). In 2001, he received a 2nd Class Medal for Merits to Kuban Development. In 2005, the Council for Public Awards in Russia of the Russian Heraldic Chamber awarded Vladimir Ponkin a 1st Class Cross to a Defender of the Fatherland for merits to the Fatherland in the field of cultural development in Russia and abroad. Maestro was also awarded an Order for Service to Russia (2006) by the National Committee of Public Awards of the Russian Federation, a 1st Class Cossack Order for the Love and Loyalty to the Fatherland (2006), and an Order of Friendship (2012).

Born in Irkutsk in 1951, Vladimir Ponkin graduated from the Gorky Conservatory. He also graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire and completed a postgraduate course in opera and symphonic conducting by Gennady Rozhdestvensky. In 1980, he became the USSR's first young conductor to win the 5th Rupert Foundation Conducting Competition held in London. Over the years, maestro led the Yaroslavl Symphony Orchestra, the State Symphony Orchestra of Cinematography, the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland), and the State Symphony Orchestra. Currently, he's the art director and chief conductor of the Kuban Symphony Orchestra.

In 1990-2004, Vladimir Ponkin led the State Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow State Academic Philharmonic Society. During the years of cooperation with Vladimir Ponkin, the State Symphony Orchestra became one of country's most popular, both in Russia and abroad. This orchestra performed on the stages of the world's best concert halls, participated in Russia's and Europe's largest international festivals. Ponkin's versatility manifested itself in performing various pieces by different composers with an extraordinary grace, in a filigree conductor's technique, in the delicate elaboration on the details, as well as in a concept's reasonableness and consistency. His repertoire includes almost all the classical music pieces of three centuries. In the summer of 1996, Vladimir Ponkin and the Moscow State Academic Philharmonic Society's orchestra participated in 42nd Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. During the opera festival, Vladimir Ponkin gave two symphony concerts of Russian and French music. The Italian press wrote: «They have significantly raised the festival's emotional temperature. Ponkin boast of a huge repertoire. He created some extremely diverse interpretations of composers belonging to different historical eras and styles». (Viareggio, La Nazione).

A special place in this conductor's creative work belongs to opera. In 1995, Vladimir Ponkin was invited to become the chief conductor of The Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danch

Since 1999, he has been actively cooperating with the Helikon Opera Theater, eventually becoming this theater's chief conductor (in 2002). A number of productions were staged there under his lead, including the following: Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (by Shostakovich), Lulu (by Berg), Kashchey the Immortal (by Rimsky-Korsakov)

Vladimir Ponkin worked as a guest conductor with such renowned ensembles as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Leningrad Academic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra (an Honoured Ensemble of Russia), the National Academic Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestras of All-Soviet Union Radio, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany), Italian orchestras (the Guido Cantelli Symphony Orchestra of Milan and the Bergamo Festival Orchestra), some of the leading ensembles of Australia (the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane, and the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra), the US's Palm Beach Orchestra and many others. He performs regularly with the Moscow Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra (with Yuri Simonov as an Art Director).

Vladimir Ponkin is well-known thanks to his accompaniment skills, as well. He participated many times in the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Moscow and in International Music Festivals of Pärt and Penderecki in Stockholm. Ponkin's repertoire is huge. It includes both well-known pieces by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, and exotic (for the Moscow audience) pieces of music by Stravinsky, Elgar, and a number of contemporary composers.

Various concert tours by Vladimir Ponkin were successfully held in Australia, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Israel, Sweden, South Korea, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Argentina, Chile, and the United States. Maestro has performed with many famous artists, including singers Angela Gheorghiu, José Cura, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Yevgeny Nesterenko, Paata Burchuladze, Zurab Sotkilava, Maria Bieșu, Yuri Mazurok, Lucia Alberti, and Virgilius Noreika, pianists Ivo Pogorelić, Evgeny Kissin, Grigory Sokolov, Daniel Pollack, Denis Matsuev, Vladimir Krainev, Victor Yampolsky, Eliso Virsaladze, Edith Chen and Nikolay Petrov, Alexander Gindin, violinists Andrei Korsakov, Sergei Stadler, Oleg Krysa, and a cellist Natalia Gutman.

Vladimir Ponkin has a huge repertoire covering both classical pieces of music and pieces by contemporary composers. He introduced the Russian public to a number of pieces by Penderecki and Lutoslawski. One of the most outstanding creative works by Ponkin involved conducting a monumental and extremely difficult musical composition Matins (by Penderecki) for soloists, chorus and orchestra. It was performed during the concert in Stockholm as part of festival dedicated to the composer. Penderecki highly appreciated Ponkin's skills by saying: «I have no more desire to conduct this music piece in person after this concert».

The concert held in residence of Pope John Paul II by Vladimir Ponkin and the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra was undoubtedly an outstanding event. It was so successful that John Paul II wanted an encore and awarded the conductor a Guest of Honor Medal.

«Vladimir Ponkin, as the new conductor, brings in to the performance the talent of a true musician and the skill of an experienced conductor – it has been a while since this orchestra sounded so fully and perfectly» («Nezavisimaya Gazeta», Moscow).

Visiting Taiwan on invitation of Dalai Lama with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra was a truly special episode in Vladimir Ponkin's life. The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism awarded him a certificate of Guest of Honour of the World Buddhist Center and expressed his special respect by giving his own rosary to maestro at parting.

Vladimir Ponkin treats his young audience with a great sensitivity. Various concerts for children are very popular. During those concerts, he acts as a master of ceremonies and invites young viewers to talk about music.

Vladimir Ponkin has served as a professor at the Moscow Conservatory since 2004. He's also a Chairman of the Opera and Symphony Conducting Department at the State Musical Pedagogical Institute named after M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov

Born in 1982 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, Vyacheslav Gryaznov has received his primary musical education at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory’s Central School of Music (1991-2001). In 2006 he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory with honors and currently studying a post-graduate course there. He also joined a teaching faculty of the Conservatory recently where has a position of assistant professor at the Piano Department.

Vyacheslav Gryaznov has been granted scholarships from a number of prestigious international charitable funds by Vladimir Spivakov, Youri Bashmet, Mstislav Rostropovich and has been also awarded the prizes of numerous international competitions. These include the First Prizes at Rubinstein Competition in Moscow (1997) and Rachmaninov Competition in Italy (1998), got the Grand Prix of the “XXI Century Art and Performance” Competition in Denmark in 2001, and in 2003 has been honored with the Audience Prize in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Vyacheslav Gryaznov performs regularly all over Russia and has a busy international career both as a soloist and appearing in programmes with symphonic orchestras in Italy, Denmark, Great Britain, Croatia, Sweden, Norway and Holland, African and Baltic countries, and in Japan. His concert video recordings which were made in NHK studio are broadcasted frequently by the Japanese TV channels.

The pianist is also active in making piano concert arrangements two books of which were published in 2005 and 2007 and included arrangements of symphonic and operatic pieces by Glinka, Rachmaninoff, Ravel and Bizet for two pianos and four-hand piano duet.

Starting from 2008/2009 concert season Vyacheslav Gryaznov belongs to the Moscow Philharmonic Society Artists Management which represents him exclusively in Russia.