St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)
The orchestra was established in 1967. Its first
leaders were outstanding masters of the Leningrad conducting school: Nikolai
Rabinovich, Karl Eliasberg, and Edward Grikurov. The well-considered repertoire
policy of performing seldom-played opuses of different musical styles and
nations, and eager attention to music of living composers also defined the
orchestra’s name: from the day of its origination and until 1985 it was called
“Orchestra of Ancient and Modern Music.” The brightest moments for the ensemble
of that period are related to the name of conductor Edward Serov who headed the
orchestra for 15 years. It was under his baton that the “Orchestra of Ancient
and Modern Music” traveled to hundreds of cities of the Soviet Union and many
countries of the world with its concerts, recorded dozens of LPs for the Soviet
Melodia label, participated in the most prestigious festivals, and firmly ranked
as Leningrad’s third after the two famous philharmonic orchestras. Renowned
soloists and conductors such as Yuri Temirkanov, Maris Jansons, Svyatoslav
Richter, Natalia Gutman, Elena Obraztsova, Grigory Sokolov, and many others
performed with the orchestra in those days.
In 1985, the minor symphony list of the orchestra
extended to a full symphony scale. Considering the important role played by the
ensemble in Leningrad’s artistic life, it was given the rank of Leningrad State
Orchestra. From that same year till 2004, talented musician Ravil Martynov was
the orchestra’s chief conductor. Under his leadership, the active touring
activity of the orchestra began in its post-Soviet Russian period. Since 1990,
the orchestra has been successfully touring in China, Japan, Germany, Austria,
Mexico, Spain, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France, and Belgium.
In 1988, the orchestra started its performances in
the Mirror Hall of the famous Princes Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace in the very
heart of St. Petersburg, soon regaining the status of one of the city’s best
concert venues to the hall.
In 2007, Alexander Titov, one of the most known
Russian conductors of our days, became the orchestra’s artistic director and
chief conductor.
The orchestra’s repertoire is really limitless, being
a kind of its “visiting card”. They perform music of every epoch, genre, and
style, with many premiere performances of opuses by today’s composers. For
efficient creative activity and excellent professionalism, and for promotion of
Russian art abroad, the orchestra was given the honorary title of “Academic”,
which is only awarded in Russia to select musical collectives.
In 2008, the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony
Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Titov launched a series of CD recordings
of works by outstanding Russian composers created during the Great Patriotic war
of 1941-1945. The first releases of the giant “Wartime Music” archive – opuses
of G. Popov and N. Myaskovsky, V. Scherbachev and M. Weinberg, D. Shostakovich
and S. Prokofiev, A. Mossolov and L. Knipper, Y. Kochurov and L. Polovinkin, O.
Yevlakhov and R. Gliere had a noticeable impact on the professional music
community and excited response from music lovers.
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