Alexander Sladkovsky

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.