“Vladimir Jurowski delivers an absolutely stunning account that vividly captures the work’s drama and emotional intensity”
BBC Music Magazine on Schnittke’s 3rd Symphony
PENTATONE announces the signature of a long-term, multi-album agreement with Vladimir Jurowski, one of the leading conductors of his generation.
The Russian-born maestro will helm a new complete cycle of the symphonies of Sergei Prokofiev with his Moscow-based State Academic Symphony Orchestra “Evgeny Svetlanov”, the first instalment of which will feature Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 and is slated for release in November this year. Both the original and revised versions of Symphony No. 4 will follow in 2018. In addition to this major undertaking, Tchaikovsky’s complete ballet Swan Lake will be captured with the same forces and released during next year.
Jurowski, who becomes Chief Conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB) in September, will also conduct the orchestra on two new releases marking the beginning of his tenure in the German capital: Mahler’s rarely recorded tone poem Totenfeier (the original version of the first movement of the composer’s Second Symphony) and Strauss’ famous Also sprach Zarathustra will come out that same month, while Britten and Hindemith violin concertos with Arabella Steinbacher’s revelatory take on the two seminal works of the 20th-century , will come out in October.
Quote from the Vladimir Jurowski
“I am very excited to be embarking on a long-term collaboration with PENTATONE, a label I know very well, and with which I have worked on many wonderful and different projects in the past.”
Quote from Renaud Loranger, Vice President Artists and Repertoire, PENTATONE
“Vladimir Jurowski is one of the most exciting musical minds of today. We are honored to be strengthening our relationship with him and his two outstanding orchestras in Berlin and Moscow. The recordings we make together will document a broad range of repertoire over the next several years, the cycle of complete Prokofiev symphonies honoring his roots in the Russian tradition while creating what will no doubt become a benchmark interpretation. We look forward immensely to working with him to create new points of reference in the PENTATONE catalogue. ”
REMINDER OF RELEASE SEQUENCE with full details
September 2017
Mahler Totenfeier & Symphonic Prelude
R. Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Vladimir Jurowski
October 2017
Britten Violin Concerto
Hindemith Violin Concerto
Arabella Steinbacher, violin
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Vladimir Jurowski
November 2017
Prokofiev Symphonies 2 & 3 (first instalment of complete symphonies)
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evgeny Svetlanov”
Vladimir Jurowski
ABOUT VLADIMIR JUROWSKI
One of today’s most sought-after conductors, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow into a musical family, and studied at the Moscow Conservatory, and the Musikhochschule of Dresden and Berlin. In 1995, he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival conducting Rimsky-Korsakov’s “May Night”, and 1996 saw his debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with “Nabucco”. Vladimir Jurowski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, becoming the orchestra’s Principal Conductor in September 2007 and has also held the positions of First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997-2001), Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2000-2003), Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (2005-2009) and Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001-2013).
He enjoys regular collaborations with many of the world’s leading orchestras in both Europe and North America, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the New York Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has also conducted the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich. He is a notable guest with major opera companies including the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, the Metropolitan Opera New York, The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Semperoper Dresden.
For PENTATONE he has recorded Schnittke’s Symphony No. 3 with the Berlin Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and a series of Russian works with the Russian National Orchestra.
He is currently the Artistic Director of the George Enescu International Festival, Bucharest. He also holds the titles of one of the four Principal Artists of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra “Evgeny Svetlanov”, with which he has developed a successful profile in Moscow, focusing in particular on the contemporary repertoire. In September 2017, he will officially be Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.
ABOUT RSB
The Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra) dates back to the first hour of musical broadcasting by Deutscher Rundfunk in October 1923. Since then it has established an enduring position as one of Berlin’s top orchestras, and in the highest echelon of German radio orchestras. In September 2017 Vladimir Jurowski will become Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the RSB. Marek Janowski was Artistic Director of the RSB before him, from 2002 to 2015, leading it with great success in symphonic concerts and concertante opera performances. Previous Chief Conductors (incl. Sergiu Celibidache, Rolf Kleinert, Heinz Rögner and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos) all helped to create a flexible and unique body of sound shaped by the changing circumstances of 20th century German history in a very special way. Important composers have come to the orchestra’s lectern in person or performed their own works here as soloists: Paul Hindemith, Sergei Prokofiev, Richard Strauss, Arnold Schönberg, Igor Stravinsky, as well as Krzysztof Penderecki, Peter Ruzicka and Jörg Widmann in more recent years.
The RSB is particularly attractive for young conductors from the international music scene. Most recent guests have included Lahav Shani, Jakub Hrůša and Alondra de la Parra and Omer Meir Wellber, and in years past, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Vasily Petrenko and Alain Altinoglu. The orchestra’s cooperation with Deutschlandradio has also been extremely productive in terms of CD recordings. Outstanding examples of such recordings include the concertante Wagner cycle (PENTATONE).
Many RSB musicians share their expertise and musical sensitivity through commitment to ambitious concerts and projects for children and young people. For more than 50 years the RSB has also appeared regularly on important national and international stages. Besides regular tours of Asia, the orchestra makes guest appearances at European festivals and in German centers of music.
ABOUT THE STATE ACADEMIC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF RUSSIA “EVGENY SVETLANOV” On 5 October 2016 the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evgeny Svetlanov”, one of the country’s oldest symphonic ensembles, celebrated its 80th anniversary. The State Orchestra debut performance took place eight decades ago, on 5 October 1936, at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. During the years, the orchestra has been led by outstanding musicians such as Alexander Gauk (1936-1941), Natan Rakhlin (1941-1945), Konstantin Ivanov (1945-1965), and Evgeny Svetlanov (1965-2000). The orchestra was granted the honorary title “academic” for the exceptional creative achievements in 1972 and received the Order of the Red Banner of Labour in 1986. On 27 October 2005, the State Academic Symphony Orchestra was officially named after E.F. Svetlanov. From 2000 to 2002 the orchestra was headed by Vasily Sinaisky, and from 2002 to 2011 by Mark Gorenstein. In 2006 and 2011 the ensemble was rewarded with Presidential commendations.
On 24 October 2011 Vladimir Jurowski, a world-renowned conductor collaborating with many leading opera companies and orchestras, was appointed as the Artistic Director of the State Orchestra. Starting with season 2016/2017 Vasily Petrenko is the Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra. The orchestra was conducted by H. Abendroth, E. Ansermet, L. Blech, N. Golovanov, A. Jansons, O. Klemperer, K. Kondrashin, L. Maazel, N. Malko, I. Markevitch, E. Mravinsky, C. Munch, M. Rostropovich, K. Sanderling, S. Sondeckis, I. Stravinsky, A. Boreiko, C. Dutoit, V. Gergiev, M. Jurowski, A .Lazarev, I. Marin, K. Masur, T. Mikkelsen, V. Petrenko, G. Rinkevicius, G. Rozhdestvensky, A. Sladkovsky, L. Slatkin, Y. Temirkanov, A. Vedernikov, and other great musicians.
The orchestra has performed at the most prestigious venues, such as the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, and the State Kremlin Palace (Moscow), Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall (New York), the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), Musikverein (Vienna), the Royal Albert Hall (London), Salle Pleyel (Paris), Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), and Suntory Hall (Tokyo). In 2013 the orchestra had a performance at the Moscow Red Square for the first time. Ever since its first tour abroad in 1956 the orchestra regularly represents Russian culture in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the US, and many other countries. Starting in January 2016, the orchestra has been working on a special project, which is aimed on supporting professional composing, that involves close collaboration with modern Russian authors. Aleksander Vustin is the first composer in residence of the orchestra.