Trans-Siberian Art-Festival 2018.
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra,
Vadim Repin

Throughout its history, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra has ranked among the best national orchestras and has been a worthy representative of Russian musical culture abroad. 

The orchestra was founded in September 1951 under the Soviet Radio Committee and joined the Moscow Philharmonic Society in 1953. Its artistic image and performing style were built under the guidance of renowned Russian conductors. The ensemble's first Artistic Director and Principal Conductor was Samuil Samosud (1951–1957). In 1957–1959, the orchestra, led by Nathan Rachlin, was considered as one of the best in the USSR. In 1958, at the 1st International Tchaikovsky Competition, the orchestra, conducted by Kirill Kondrashin, accompanied a triumphant performance by Van Cliburn, and in 1960 it was the first Russian symphony orchestra to tour the USA.

Kirill Kondrashin led the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra for 16 years (1960–1976). Those years were important milestones in the ensemble's history: the maestro conducted the premieres of Shostakovich's 4th and 13th Symphonies, his poem The Execution of Stepan Razin, Prokofiev's Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, performed and recorded many Mahler symphonies. In 1973 the orchestra was awarded the title of Academic. Under Dmitry Kitaenko (1976–1990) the orchestra extended its 20th century repertoire, premiering works by Khrennikov, Denisov, Schnittke, Butsko, and Tishchenko. Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie, Stravinsky's King of the Stars (Zvezdoliki) and Requiem Canticles were performed for the first time in the USSR. The ensemble was subsequently led by Vasily Sinaisky (1991–1996) and Mark Ermler (1996–1998). 

The orchestra has collaborated with leading Russian and international conductors including André Cluytens, Igor Markevitch, Charles Munch, Zubin Mehta, George Enescu, Neeme Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Dzhansug Kakhidze, Kurt Mazur, Evgeny Svetlanov and composers Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky, and Krzysztof Penderecki. It is with this orchestra that Sviatoslav Richter made his sole appearance as a conductor. Virtually all major soloists of the second half of the 20th century have appeared with the orchestra, including Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Glenn Gould, Emil Gilels, David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Daniil Shafran, Yakov Flier, Nikolai Petrov, Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Krainev, Maurizio Pollini, Eliso Virsaladze, and Natalia Gutman. The orchestra has recorded over 350 LPs and CDs, many of which have received the highest international recording awards and are still in demand today. 

A new stage in the history of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra began in 1998, when it was taken over by People's Artist of the USSR Yuri Simonov. Under his leadership, the ensemble has achieved tremendous success. Today the orchestra is one of the mainstays of Russian philharmonic life, frequently performing in cities across Russia (over the last ten years they have appeared in more than 40 cities) and successfully touring Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Korea. 

In recent decades, the orchestra has played with such outstanding musicians as: Marc-André Hamelin, Valery Afanassiev, Yuri Bashmet, Boris Berezovsky, Yuja Wang, Maxim Vengerov, Stefan Vladar, Hibla Gerzmava, David Geringas, Barry Douglas, Lilya Zilberstein, Sumi Jo, Laura Kleikomb, Alexander Kniazev, Sergey Krylov, John Lill, Nikolai Lugansky, Konstantin Lifshitz, Oleg Maisenberg, Denis Matsuev, Ekaterina Mechetina, Viktoria Mullova, Daniel Pollak, Vadim Repin, Sergey Roldugin, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Viktor Tretyakov; Conductors Luciano Acocella, Semyon Bychkov, Alexander Vedernikov, Michael Güttler, Alexander Dmitriev, Marco Zambelli, Thomas Sanderling, Alexander Lazarev, Andres Mustonen, Vasily Petrenko, Benjamin Pionnier, 

Gintaras Rinkevičius, Alexander Sladkovsky, Leonard Slatkin, Saulius Sondeckis, Antonino Fogliani, Mariss Jansons and many others. 

One of the orchestra's priorities is working with the new generation of musicians: as part of the Stars of the 21st Century series, the orchestra plays with gifted soloists entering the big stage and invites young performers to join its philharmonic subscription programmes. The orchestra is a regular participant of international and Russian master courses for young conductors by Yuri Simonov, organized by the Moscow Philharmonic society. 

The activities of Maestro Simonov and the orchestra also aim at educating young listeners. The subscription series Tales with an Orchestra, taking place in Moscow and many Russian cities and featuring theatre and film stars, has become hugely popular. Guest stars have included Marina Alexandrova, Maria Aronova, Alyona Babenko, Valery Barinov, Sergei Bezrukov, Anna Bolshova, Olga Budina, Valery Garkalin, Sergei Garmash, Nonna Grishaeva, Ekaterina Guseva, Evgenia Dobrovolskaya, Mikhail Yefremov, Evgeny Knyazev, Avangard Leontiev, Pavel Lyubimtsev, Dmitry Nazarov, Alexander Oleshko, Irina Pegova, Yulia Peresild, Mikhail Porechenkov, Evgeniya Simonova, Grigory Siyatvinda, Daniil Spivakovsky, Yuri Stoyanov, Evgeny Stychkin, Victoria Tolstoganova, Mikhail Trukhin, Gennady Khazanov, Chulpan Khamatova, Sergey Shakurov. This project brought Maestro Simonov the Moscow Mayor's Arts Award in 2008, while in 2010, Yuri Simonov and the orchestra received the National Newspaper Musical Review Award in the Conductor and Orchestra category. 

In recent years, the ensemble has presented several Moscow, Russian and world premieres of works by Andrei Eshpai, Boris Tishchenko, Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Glass, Alexander Tchaikovsky, Sergei Slonimsky, Valentin Silvestrov, Eduard Artemyev, Gennady Gladkov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Alexei Rybnikov, Efrem Podgaits, Kuzma Bodrov and other composers.

Vadim Repin is one of the world’s best and most sought-after violinists. Born in Novosibirsk, he won the renowned Wieniawski Competition and gave his first recitals in Moscow and Leningrad aged 11. At 14, he played in Tokyo, Munich, Berlin and Helsinki, and gave his debut at Carnegie Hall a mere year later. At 17 he became the youngest ever winner of the Concours Reine Elisabeth. Since then, he continues to perform at the world’s major concert venues and international festivals. 

The list of his stage partners includes illustrious conductor’s names such as Ashkenazy, Boulez, Chailly, Chung, Dohnányi, Dutoit, Gergiev, Jansons, Levine, Mehta, Muti, Nagano, Ozawa, Temirkanov and Thielemann, as well as of chamber musician partners such as Argerich, Bartoli, Capuçon, Golan, Kissin, Knyazev, Korobeinikov, Lang Lang, Lugansky, Maisky and Matsuev.

Mr Repin recorded the great Russian violin concerti by Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky for Warner Classics. Deutsche Grammophon released the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and Riccardo Muti, the Kreutzer Sonata with Martha Argerich, as well as the Brahms Double Concerto (with Truls Mørk) and Violin Concerto with the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly. His DG recordings of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff trios with Mischa Maisky and Lang Lang won the Echo Prize, a sonata CD with works by Grieg, Janáček and César Franck with Nikolai Lugansky the BBC Music Award. 

In 2010 Vadim Repin received the Victoire d’Honneur and the highest French distinction, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres, for his services to music. He was named Honorary Professor of Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music in 2014 and awarded the same title by the Shanghai Conservatory in 2015. Apart from holding masterclasses in most countries where he performs, he also serves as a juror, at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in London and at the “Concours Reine Elisabeth” in Brussels, amongst others. 

A large portion of Mr Repin’s work is focussed on the Trans-Siberian Art Festival, a large cultural enterprise he founded in 2013/14. With Vadim Repin as artistic director, this festival encourages the building of local, as well as international cultural, social and geographical bridges. Besides its Novosibirsk hub, this festival is now present in most major cities and numerous regional towns in Russia. Moreover, the festival’s roster includes Japan, Korea, Israel, Belgium, France, Germany and both the U.S. states of California and New York. Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Berlin Philharmonic Hall were added for the first time in 2019. The Trans-Siberian Art Festival also commissions at least one new concerto per year. Thus, several violin concertos - Benjamin Yussupov’s “Voices of Violin”, Lera Auerbach’s “De Profundis”, Sofia Gubaidulina’s “Dialogue: You and I”, Alexander Raskatov’s “Ex Oriente Lux”, and a new verion of Arvo Pärt’s “La Sindone” – were premièred by Vadim during his festival in Novosibirsk. 

In recent seasons, the joint programme “Pas de deux for Toes and Fingers” with prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova and Vadim Repin was performed in Hong Kong, Muscat, Japan and Korea. Moreover, he played with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic conducted by Sascha Goetzel, at the Enescu Festival Bucharest, in Verbier - most recently with Lahav Shani conducting – and at the Montreal Festival with Kent Nagano. Further highlights include appearances with the RAI Torino Orchestra, a return to the Enescu Festival, to Vienna with Gubaidulina’s new violin concerto, to Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Andris Nelsons, as well as numerous concerts in Korea, Japan and China. 

Vadim Repin plays the magnificent Rode Stradivari violin from 1733.