To the bright memory
of Elizabeth Glinka (Dr. Lisa).
Moscow State Symphony Orchestra,
Pavel Kogan

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. 

Pavel Kogan’s career has spanned over 40 years and five continents. He was born into a distinguished musical family – his parents are legendary violinists Leonid Kogan and Elizaveta Gilels and his uncle is the inimitable pianist Emil Gilels. From an early age Maestro Kogan’s artistic development was divided between conducting and violin. He was granted special permission to study both disciplines at the same time.

In 1970 eighteen-year-old Pavel Kogan, a violin pupil of Yuri Yankelevich at the Moscow Conservatory, won 1st prize in the Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki. Thereafter he appeared regularly as a violinist in concerts around the world. As a conducting pupil of Ilya Musin and Leo Ginsburg, in 1972 the young Maestro gave his debut with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra and subsequently focused more on conducting. In the years that followed he conducted the leading Soviet orchestras both at home and on tour abroad. In 1988, as a conductor of the Bolshoi Opera, Kogan opened the season with a new production of Verdi’s La Traviata. That same year he became the head of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra.

Since 1989 to 2022 Pavel Kogan has been the Music Director and Chief Conductor of the eminent Moscow State Symphony Orchestra (MSSO). From 1998–2005 he served as principal guest conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Kogan appeared with many prominent orchestras including the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, USSR State Radio & TV Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Belgique, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre National de France, Houston Symphony, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra.

Pavel Kogan has recorded numerous works with the MSSO and other ensembles, which became a major contribution to the world’s musical culture. He was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation for his performance of the complete symphonies and vocal cycles of Gustav Mahler. In 2014 Kogan was appointed Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, for his contribution to music in France. He is a member of the Russian Academy of Arts, recipient of the Order of Merit of Russia and of the title People's Artist of Russia among other Russian and overseas awards.

Boris Andrianov, a renowned Russian cellist, performs in the world's top venues and at most prestigious festivals. While having an extensive touring schedule, the artist is also keen on performing in Russia, whether in big cities, small towns or remote villages that had never seen any concerts at all. He has also participated in many international and national projects aimed at expanding the country’s musical landscapes, especially in Russian provinces. Invariably enjoying great success with the public, those projects bring together internationally renowned performers along with Boris Andrianov himself. 

Boris Andrianov was born in Moscow in 1976. He studied at the Gnessin Music School (class of Vera Birina), Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (class of Professor Natalia Shakhovskaya) and Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin (class of Professor David Geringas).

He was the winner of Antonio Janigro international competition in Zagreb as well as competitions in Johannesburg, Hanover (Shostakovich Classiсa Nova Competition, as part of a duo with Alexey Goribol), Paris (Mstislav Rostropovich competition), and South Korea (Isang Yun competition). He was also a prize-winner at the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Triumph Youth Award, and was titled Honored Artist of Russia in 2016. 

Boris Andrianov has performed with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, including Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Yury Simonov, Pavel Kogan, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alexander Vedernikov, Gianandrea Noseda, Dmitry Liss, Roman Kofman, Vasily Petrenko, Stefan Vladar, Dmitri Jurowski, and Alexander Sladkovsky. In chamber performances, he has played alongside Yury Bashmet, Menahem Pressler, Akiko Suwanai, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Itamar Golan, Denis Matsuev, Sergey Nakaryakov, Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Alexey Lyubimov, Tatiana Grindenko, to name a few. 

The musician has participated in the Royal Swedish Festival, as well as in Ludwigsburg and Schleswig-Holstein festivals (Germany), festivals in Edinburgh (Scotland), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Colmar (France), Davos (Switzerland), Irkutsk (Stars on Baikal), Trans-Siberian Art Festival and others. He is also a regular guest of the Homecoming chamber music festival in Moscow. 

Boris Andrianov heads The Generation of Stars, a nation-wide project that has been awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation (2009). He also initiated Vivacello and Vivarte international festivals in Moscow and has been artistic director for both. In addition, he is the artistic director of Musical Expedition festival, that was founded in the Vladimir region and has been expanding every year. In 2021, the festival covered six Russian regions, including Udmurtia, Vologda and Novosibirsk regions, Crimea and Kamchatka. 

Widely collaborating with contemporary composers, Boris Andrianov has repeatedly presented premieres of new works, including those by Giya Kancheli, Krzysztof Penderecki, Efrem Podgaits, Michael Berkeley, Richard Dubugnon, Alexander Rosenblatt, Giovanni Sollima, Vangelis, Alexey Rybnikov, Pavel Karmanov, Samuel Strouk, Alexey Shor and others. 

The artist's discography includes a joint recording with guitarist Dmitry Illarionov, released by Delos (in 2003 the record was included in the long list of Grammy nominees in Chamber Ensemble category); Sonatas by Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff with pianist Rem Urasin (named the best chamber disc of the month by Gramophone in September 2007), and sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord by J. S. Bach transcribed for cello and button accordion, recorded with Yuri Medianik (released by Melodiya, 2015). In 2020–2021 he recorded Variations on Rococo Theme by Tchaikovsky with the State Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan under Alexander Sladkovsky (Sony Classics), Gabriel Prokofiev's Cello Concerto with the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra under Alexey Bogorad (world premiere of the recording) as well as the Jazz Reflections of Bach Suites with Leonid and Nick Vintskevich, as well as all cello suites by J.S. Bach (the release is scheduled for 2022). 

Since 2009 Boris Andrianov has been teaching at the Moscow Conservatory. The artist plays a cello made by Carlo Bergonzi from the State Collection of Unique Musical Instruments.

Winner of the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition 2012

Andrey Baranov is also a winner of Benjamin Britten and Henri Marteau International Violin Competitions, and a prizewinner of more than twenty other international competitions including Indianapolis, Seoul, Sendai, Liana Isakadze, David Oistrakh, Paganini (Moscow) international competitions.

Andrey is a first violinist of David Oistrakh Quartet, an outstanding ensemble established in 2012.

Born in St Petersburg in 1986 into a family of musicians, Andrey began playing the violin at the age of five. He attended the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St-Petersburg and Consevatoire de Lausanne. He studied with Lev Ivaschenko, Vladimir Ovcharek, Pierre Amoyal. Andrey also has taken masterclasses from B. Kushnir, L. Isakadze, K. Kashkashian among many others.

Since making his major debut in 2005 at St Petersburg Philharmonie hall under V. Petrenko and the Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrey has performed on renowned stages throughout the world including Bozar Brussels, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Großer Saal Mozarteum, Cadogan Hall London, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Konzerthaus Berlin, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow and St.-Petersburg Philharmonic halls.

Many of Andrey’s performances have been broadcast worldwide – on BR Klassik, Radio Orpheus, Espace 2 (Switzerland), YLE Radio (Finland), WFYI, WFMT Chicago (USA) and NHK Sendai (Japan).

Andrey has already appeared with leading international orchestras including Luxembourg Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Belgium, MusicAeterna Orchestra, St-Petersburg Philharmonic, Sendai Philharmonic, Royal Phiharmonic London and SWR Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra under conductors Y. Temirkanov, V. Fedoseev, T. Currentzis, V. Petrenko, N. Alekseev, M. Tabachnik, W. Weller and E.Krivine among others.

Andrey has performed alongside such artists as Martha Argerich, Eliso Virsaladze, Julian Rachlin, Boris Andrianov, Pierre Amoyal, Liana Isakadze.

Aged only 23 Andrey was appointed as teaching assistant to Pierre Amoyal at the Conservatoire de Lausanne and has since been in demand as a teacher at many international masterclasses. He has been invited to institutions in Chicago, Bangkok, Riga, Vilnius, Stockholm, Manchester, Moscow and more.