April 18, 2020
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall
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The Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra has achieved worldwide acclaim for their sophisticated performances and dynamic programming. The orchestra was the inspiration of Nazib Zhiganov, former Chairman of the Composers Union of Tatarstan and Dean of the Kazan Conservatory. In 1966, he received authorization and funding from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Council of Ministers to create a symphony orchestra in Tatarstan. The TNSO gave its first concert, featuring works by Bach, Shostakovich and Prokofiev, under its first Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Natan Rakhlin on 10th of April, 1967.
Under its current Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Alexander Sladkovsky, the TNSO has further developed its cultural and social influence through new festivals, artistic collaborations and educational and community outreach.
The orchestra regularly performs in Russian’s major cities and around the world through its extensive touring schedule. Its festivals and special events, including the Rakhlin Seasons, White Lilac, Kazan Autumn, The Creative Discovery and Denis Matsuev & Friends series, are amongst the most notable public, cultural events in Tatarstan and Russia. It is also frequently featured at the Crescendo, Stars on Baikal, The Cherry Orchard and the Hibla Germava Invites festivals.
The TNSO enjoys a long, successful history of collaborations with renowned operatic and instrumental luminaries including Galina Vishnevskaya, Irina Arkhipova, Olga Borodina, Hibla Gerzmava, Albina Shagimuratova, Simone Kermes, Plácido Domingo, Roberto Alagna, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Leonidas Kavakos, Sergei Krylov, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, David Geringas, Boris Berezovsky, Barry Douglas and Igor Butman among others.
The orchestra’s commitment to social and charitable causes has twice earned the Philanthropist of the Year award from the President of the Republic of Tatarstan. Through The Republic’s Heritage project, the TNSO supports both talented music conservatory students and local schools through a series of educational programmes and outreach. The orchestra’s Musical Healing programme is dedicated to helping severely ill and disabled children through a multi-faceted series of cultural events.
The TNSO is an exclusive Sony Music Entertainment Russia recording artist and has released several albums on the Sony Classical and RCA Red Seal labels. Their concerts have also been broadcast on Medici.tv and Mezzo.
Alexander Sladkovsky is a Russian conductor, the People’s Artist of Russia, the People's Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan, who graduated from Moscow and St. Petersburg conservatories. He was born in 1965 in Taganrog. Prize-winner at the Prokofiev International Competition (St Petersburg, 1999). Made his debut as a conductor in 1997 at the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte. Has been a conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg State Capella (1997–2003) and Principal Conductor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory Opera and Ballet Theatre (2001–2003). In 2005 he assisted Mariss Jansons on a production of the opera Carmen, and in 2006 he assisted Mstislav Rostropovich on a production of the programme Unknown Musorgsky (both at the St. Petersburg Conservatory). Subsequently served as Principal Conductor of the St. Petersburg State Capella (2004–2006) and conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra Novaya Rossiya (2006–2010).
Since 2010 he has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra. In 2016 the orchestra presented concerts at the Brucknerhaus in Linz and the Musikverein in Vienna. December 2018 featured a tour to China, while in 2014 (in Japan) and in 2019 (in France) the orchestra participated in the festival La Folle Journée.
In the 2014/15 season Alexander Sladkovsky and the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra appeared at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia (as part of an anniversary concert commemorating ten years of the Crescendo festival) and the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre.
In 2012 the ensemble released An Anthology of Music by Tatarstan Composers and the album Enlightenment (featuring Tchaikovsky’s Manfred symphony and Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead) on the labels Sony Music and RCA Red Seal, while in 2016 with Melodiya it recorded the First, Fifth and Ninth Symphonies by Mahler and all of Shostakovich’s symphonies and concerti. In May 2020 the Sony Classical label released the box set Tchaikovsky 2020 commemorating one hundred and eighty years since the composer’s birth – a recording of all of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies and concerti. In August 2020 the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Sladkovsky recorded symphonic works by Rachmaninoff on the Sony Classical label. Presentation concerts of the box set Sergei Rachmaninoff. Symphonic Collection was held in March 2021 in Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazan.
In 2019 Alexander Sladkovsky received the Sergei Rachmaninoff International Award in the category “Special project in the name of Rachmaninoff” for his particular focus on the composer’s music and for organising the White Lilac festival in Kazan which is dedicated to him. In the autumn of 2019 he founded an annual personal scholarship at the Moscow Conservatory for students of the Opera and Symphony Conducting Faculty. In 2019 he also conducted Verdi’s La Traviata at Moscow Helikon Opera Theatre (directed by Dmitry Bertman). In 2021, upon the invitation by the President of the Zhiganov Kazan State Conservatory, he took the position of Professor of the Opera and Symphony Conducting Department. In 2022, he became the inaugural recipient of the 440 Hertz Orchestral Grand Prix in the ‘Conductor’ category.
Yaroslav Timofeev is a musicologist, lecturer, music critic, presenter, and concert host. Having graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, he has been a prize-winner of international piano, composing and church bellringing competitions. In 2014, Yaroslav defended his Ph. D. thesis titled Stravinsky and “Khovanshina” in Sergei Diaghilev’s version: an attempt of historical research and source study. In 2015, he got the 1st degree Resonance award for Russian Young Musical Critics at the Diaghilev Festival.
Since 2011, Yaroslav Timofeev has been a music reviewer authoring over 750 articles for leading Russian media, such as Izvestia, Kommersant, Russia Beyond the Headlines newspapers; The New Times, Music Academy, Musical Life magazines; Colta.ru portal; and Arzamas project, among others. He has also been a script-writer and editor of the Absolute Pitch and Artificial selection shows on the Kultura TV channel. In 2014–2015, he was an editor with the Culture Division of Izvestia newspaper. In 2009–2015, he headed the Musicology Section of MolOt (Junior Department of the Russian Composers Union). Since 2018, he has been the Chief Editor with the Musical Academy Magazine.
Yaroslav Timofeev has been a Jury member and an Expert Council member of the Golden Mask National Theatre Award. As a musical consultant, he was involved in the staging of the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. He has been working at the Moscow Philharmonic Society since 2010, presenting concerts of the project ‘Mom, I'm a Melomaniac’ since the 2017/18 season and being a permanent co-author and co-host of the ‘Music Language’ project since 2018/19. He also gives pre-concert lectures in Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov Concert Halls. In spring 2020, he hosted several online concerts of the Armchair Concerts series.
Yaroslav has been a pianist with OQJAV indie group since 2017. As part of the group, he was awarded the Mikael Tariverdiev Prize for the Best Film Soundtrack at the Kinotavr festival (2020).