Tours in Germany (January 31 – February 13, 2006)

Tours in Great Britain (November 2005)

Concerts at the Carnegie-Hall (New-York, USA, 2005)

Concerts in Germany August 2005

Concert at The United Nations, 2005

Concerts in United Kingdom, January 2005

Concerts in the USA, October – November 2004

Concerts in Kaliningrad on August 17 and 18, 2004

Concerts in London on BBC Proms on August 2004

Concert in Essen on September 1, 2004

Concert in Vienna 22.02.04

Concert in Cologne 25.02.04


Tours in Germany (January 31 – February 13, 2006)

Translated from German

1400 spectators on the concert of Tschaikovsky in Braunschweig

It much fulfill and greatly love: Peter Tschaikovsky's music throws call virtuosos and it leaves indifferent not of one of the listeners. St. Petersburg orchestra under the administration of Yuri Temirkanov and skripachka Arabella Shteynbakher they demonstrated to yesterday 1400 spectators in the central hall of Braunschweig, why this thus.

Usually convincingly sounded the dear fifth symphony of Tschaikovsky in the interpretation of peterburzhtsev. In the andante kantabile wind showed large craftsmanship and taste, in the final fragment of the maestro Temirkanov it allowed stringed straight-away dangerous to rage before copper placed final accent. Many applause and pleasant performance to bis Elgar completed excellent concert evening.

Original review (in German)

1400 Zuschauer beim Tschaikowsky-Meisterkonzert in Braunschweig

Viel gespielt und viel geliebt: Musik von Peter Tschaikowsky fordert die Virtuosen und lasst kaum einen Zuhorer ungeruhrt nach Hause gehen. Von den St. Petersburger Philharmonikern unter Yuri Temirkanov und der Geigerin Arabella Steinbacher bekamen gestern Abend 1400 Zuschauer in der Braunschweiger Stadthalle vorgefuhrt, warum das so ist.

Routiniert und bundig wirkte Tschaikowskys beliebte 5. Sinfonie in der Interpretation der Petersburger. Im Andante-cantabile-Satz zeigten die Blaser viel Konnen und Geschmack, im Finalsatz lie? der Chef Temirkanov die Streicher geradezu gefahrlich aufbrausen, bevor die Blechblaser die Schluss-Akzente setzten. Viel Applaus und eine zarte Elgar-Zugabe beschlossen den schonen Konzertabend.

02.02.2006
Braunschweiger Zeitung
Von Harald Likus


Translated from German

Petersburg philharmonic orchestra came out in Nuremberg

... Strictly speaking, this must be listened to only in execution of the great Russian orchestras: the suffered symphonies, written by the blood, are fulfilled also.

... Vplotnuyu the sitting to each other musicians on the scene of concert hall, resonant and velvety deaf timbre already in first time of the fifth symphony of Tschaikovsky - absolute embodiment of force. Temirkanov completely and Beza any efforts it checks the game of orchestra, makes it possible to feel that completed of melancholy the melody, and first, to the performance of famous waltz, it is not necessary to await surprising ballet ease, which it causes by magic Rubato.

... Yes, in this there was soul, this was presented not only entirely both with the call, but and with the velvety softness, among which the sounds fort struck as powerful lightning...

Original review (in German)

Die Petersburger Philharmoniker spielten in Nurnberg

…Eigentlich sollte man sie nur von den gro?en russischen Orchestern horen: die Herz-und-Schmerz-Symphonien, mit Herzblut geschrieben, genauso aufgefuhrt.

…Dicht an dicht die Musiker auf dem Podium der Meistersingerhalle, volltonend und samtig dunkel der Klang schon in den ersten Takten von Tschaikowskys 5. Symphonie - eine vollig muhelose Kraftentfaltung. Temirkanov greift mit vollen Handen und ohne viel Aufhebens ins volle Orchesterleben, lasst schmerzlich die sehnsuchtsvollen Motive auskosten, und man braucht nicht erst bis zum beruhmten Walzer warten fur eine wunderbare Ballett-Leichtigkeit, die er mit genusslichem Rubato herbeizaubert.

…Ja, das hatte Seele, war nie nur dick und protzig aufgetragen, sondern hatte samtene Weichheit, zwischen die die Forteschlage wie machtige Blitze dreinschlugen. Von keiner intellektuellen Blasse angekrankelt prasentierte sich dieser generos besetzte Orchesterapparat, saftig und rund seine Holzblaser - auch ein paar vereinzelte Momente, wo man das Ganze fur blanke Routine halten mochte, ziehen voruber, wenn sich Temirkanov die Geigen zur Brust nimmt und Innigkeit bis zur Schmerzgrenze einfordert: das ist die Routine des Perfekten.

10.02.06
NURNBERGER NACHRICHTEN
UWE MITSCHING

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Tours in Great Britain (November 2005)

There is always a frisson of excitement when the Russians hit town, the St Petersburg Philharmonic being no exception, offering a feast of 20th century Russian classics.

Full-blown romanticism began gradually with Rachmaninov's hauntingly familiar Vocalise. Restrained muted strings filled the hall with lovely rounded sound, the rich dark phrases eventually daring to die away to a mere whisper.

Pianist Denis Matsuev joined with orchestra and Yuri Temirkanov for Rachmaninov's Concerto no. 3 in D minor. Swimming sweetly above veiled turbulent waters, this assured artist soon emerged to overpower lesser mortals.

Essential interaction between orchestra and soloist was occasionally obscured by a formidable technique of sparkling repeated notes, hammered octaves and torrential fortissimo cascades of terrifying proportions.

A delirious audience was further treated to a spectacular transcription of Largo al Factotum by Ginzburg.

28.11.2005
Birmingham Evening Mail


PROKOFIEV - CINDERELLA SUITE NO 1;
RACHMANINOV - RHAPSODY ON A THEME OF PAGANINI;
BRAHMS - SYMPHONY NO 2

Yuri Temirkanov may not be quite as well-known to the general public as his compatriot Valery Gergiev, but he is certainly no less inspiring a musician. This Barbican concert with the St Petersburg Philharmonic (of which he has been Music Director since 1988) showed once again what a special relationship he has with the orchestra, his fluttering hands and flowing arms enthusing the players to bring warmth and zest to the music.

The Russian repertoire always suits them best, and the first of Prokofiev’s suites from his ballet Cinderella left one wanting to hear them play the whole score. The string sound in the Introduction gave a chilly background to the life of the fairytale’s protagonist, whilst the bickering of the ugly sisters was vividly portrayed. The harp glissando in the fourth movement was just one of many striking details that Temirkanov took care to bring through, and if the manic tempo of Cinderella goes to the ball somewhat eluded the xylophonist, it never marred a stirring rendition.

Cinderella’s waltz highlighted the swaying of the players’ bodies in perfect unity, a characteristic of only the greatest orchestras. And Midnight was the perfect showcase for the percussion instruments, piano and glockenspiel making an especial impact in this most vibrant of ballet scenes.

…Next up was Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini played by the young Siberian pianist Denis Matsuev. As his large physique promised, he brought heft to the music. Less expected was the yearning lyricism of the eighteenth variation, for instance, or the nimble agility of the twenty-fourth. The orchestra was sensitive but never passive; the interaction between piano and pizzicato violins in the D minor twelfth variation was characteristic of an ensemble performance. Matsuev’s magisterial contribution to the event was topped off by a flashy encore of variations on Rossini’s Largo al factotum.

..Encores by Schubert and Tchaikovsky sent us spinning into the night, after a varied programme played with exceptional style. When Temirkanov comes to conduct the LSO in May the results are guaranteed to be special.

23.11.2005
MusicOMH

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Concerts at the Carnegie-Hall (New-York, USA) 2005

The St. Petersburg Philharmonic Opens at Carnegie With Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky

Yefim Bronfman was the soloist Thursday night as Yuri Temirkanov led the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto to open the Carnegie Hall season.

There were thoughts of a resident orchestra, with Carnegie Hall as a brand name. Later there were thoughts of banning rentals altogether, by even the most august of outside producers.

The idea of destination won out, and so we had, most recently, Thursday's season-opening concert by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, a Russian orchestra that, in terms of spirit and sheer mileage, stands as far away from 57th Street and Seventh Avenue as any orchestra could. Yet for the orchestra, its conductor, Yuri Temirkanov, and its colleagues around the world, Carnegie Hall is a destination of choice: where outsiders come to receive an imprimatur of international worth.

The St. Petersburg arrived with Russian Romanticism in battalion strength: big concerto, big symphony, big heart and big sleeve to rest it on. Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto came before intermission, the Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony after.

Yefim Bronfman was the pianist for the Rachmaninoff, a piece whose first movement probably holds more notes per square foot of music than any other movement I can think of. Mr. Bronfman seemed to take care of them all. This is big music made even bigger here by its performers. Tempos raced ahead and contracted, and the lyrical solo parts breathed and sighed deeply. The singing strings of the St. Petersburg made Rachmaninoff's orchestra writing sound a lot more interesting than it actually is.

Tchaikovsky must have had the sonority of an orchestra like this in mind when he wrote his symphony. The resonance seemed to well up from the floorboards of the stage. Mr. Temirkanov moved the music swiftly and athletically. Tchaikovsky wrote the world's most beautiful waltz probably 20 different times, and the third movement here is one of his best.

September 29, 2005
«New-York Times»
By Bernard Holland


The Russianest of Russian Orchestras Lands in New York

The common wisdom today is that the music director of a major orchestra wears out his or her (if there were any women) welcome after 10 or 12 years and should move on for the good of all concerned. But Yuri Temirkanov has always played by his own rules.

… Mr. Temirkanov has been at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, which he just conducted in three concerts at Carnegie Hall, for 17 years.

… This orchestra has always prized expressiveness, depth and color over immaculate intonation and obsessive precision. …The St. Petersburg Philharmonic remains in some ways the most distinctively Russian of the great Russian orchestras.

The performance of Brahms's Second Symphony, on Saturday, was especially telling in this respect, from the dark, viscous string sound at the start to the brilliant and incisive brass playing at the end.

Those same qualities seemed of the essence in the other work on Saturday, "... al Niente" ("... Toward Nothingness"), by the Georgian composer Giya Kancheli. Much about the piece is odd, including its title, since it flirts with nothingness throughout a static first half but then gathers momentum and heft before finally trailing off. A prevailing sweetness, a curious ambling swing and traces of jazz detract little from the work's evident seriousness of purpose.

October 4, 2005
«New-York Times»
By James R. Oestreich

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Concerts in Germany August 2005

Translated from German

Eruptions of socialist realism - with the ambiguous concept

"Festival in the lock": the symphonic orchestra of St. Petersburg philharmonic society
in the kursaal with the works of Weber, Grieg and ShostakovicH/soloist Olga kern

WIESBADEN.

Instead of sick Yuri temirkanova, testing had to withstand Nikolai Alekseyev, who by birth from Saint Petersburg and is today the chief conductor of Estonian national orchestra. Under its control the ambiguous performance of the fifth symphony of Shostakovic was presented to listeners with good reason. The eruptions, which escape from that composed, as on the textbook it is formal, completely in the spirit of the socialist realism of the first part, almost distinctly they are received the freed from the fetters, scherzo Alekseyev had some music properly hotly, generally nesglazhenno it emphasized by the sharp and sharp published from the wind tools sounds. Those clearer there was contrast with the inanimate, sorrowful melody largo, which completed up to the external piano bright Petersburg stringed miraculously played with the internal rest - the following after it rejoicing finale must already on this, as intended Shostakovic, vynuzhdenno to produce precisely ambiguous impression.

Original review (in German)

Eruptionen des sozialistischen Realismus - mit Absicht doppelbodig

Burghofspiele: St. Petersburger Philharmoniker im Kurhaus mit Werken
von Weber, Grieg und Schostakowitsch / Solistin Olga Kern

WIESBADEN

An Stelle der erkrankten Juri Temirkanow, war Nikolai Alexeev zu erleben, der aus St. Petersburg stammt und heute Chefdirigent des Estnischen Nationalorchesters ist. Unter seiner Leitung horte man eine zu Recht doppelbodige Wiedergabe der funften Schostakowitsch-Sinfonie. Die Eruptionen, die aus dem ganz im Sinne des sozialistischen Realismus formal lehrbuchhaft gearbeiteten Kopfsatz herausbrechen, wirkten beinahe uberdeutlich entfesselt, das Scherzo lie? Alexeev regelrecht gehetzt musizieren, uberhaupt ungeglattet mit seinen betont scharf und grell von den Blasern ausgespielten Klangfarben. Umso deutlicher wurde der Kontrast zu jenem fahlen, klagenden Largo-Gesang, den die exzellenten St. Petersburger Streicher wunderbar geschlossen bis ins au?erste Piano, in sich ruhend ausspielten - der darauf folgende Final-Jubel musste schon deshalb, wie von Schostakowitsch beabsichtigt, erzwungen, eben doppeldeutig wirken.

19.08.2005
Axel Zibulski

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Concert at The United Nations, 2005


UN assembly recalls Hitler and Stalin at ceremony

By REUTERS

Filed at 0:21 a.m. ET

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations commemorated victims and victors of World War II on Monday, with speakers paying tribute to Allied sacrifices but also recalling Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's actions in eastern Europe.

The session was initiated by Russia, which also organized larger ceremonies in Moscow, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe and the subsequent founding of the United Nations. The international body was formed with a mission to ``save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.''

… Russia's U.N. ambassador, Andrei Denisov, said the war was ``the biggest tragedy for the nations of Europe and the world, regardless of which side countries were on.''

Denisov had begun the U.N. events on Saturday in the General Assembly, where Yuri Temirkanov conducted the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7, composed during the German siege of Leningrad in 1941.

Special guests were dozens of surviving beribboned Red Army veterans living in the United States….

May 10, 2005
New York Times

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Concerts in United Kingdom, January 2005

WE THOUGHT WE MIGHT AS WELL GO FOR THE BEST', THE JOURNAL

One of the world's great orchestras begins an exclusive three-day residency in the North-East today, drawing audience members from across England and Scotland.

The St Petersburg Philharmonic was described by one national newspaper as "probably the world's greatest orchestra". But if you want to see its 117 musicians in action this week, conducted by Yuri Temirkanov, you will have to travel to The Sage Gateshead.

Simon Clugston, performance programme director at the Sage, said last night: "This is a huge event and we are so pleased that they are the first visiting orchestra in the hall.

"The St Petersburg Philharmonic, which was previously the Leningrad Philharmonic, is the great Russian orchestra. We have always known that there's a real interest in this area for Russian music played by Russian orchestras. We knew we were going to open a new hall so we thought we might as well go for the best."

The orchestra, which was the first to perform many works by Shostakovich and Prokofiev, flew in yesterday and will leave after its third concert on Friday night. "This is absolutely exclusive to The Sage Gateshead," said Mr Clugston.

He said the first approach was made two years ago but he hoped this would be the start of a lasting relationship between the orchestra and the new North-East concert venue. This made sense, he suggested, because both places were almost on the same latitude. Each of the three evening concerts in the Sage's Hall One features one of the great ballets by Stravinsky: Petrushka tonight, The Firebird tomorrow and The Rite Of Spring on Friday.

Each programme also features pieces by Rachmaninov, adding up to what Mr Clugston called "some of the most fantastic Russian repertoire there is".

He said The Rite Of Spring in particular was "a very big piece" and so not often performed.

Conductor Temirkanov, the former professional cellist said: "I actually played for him once. He made quite a reputation for himself in the early 1980s in this country. He is absolutely of the Russian school of conductors, immensely innovative."

19.01.2005
THE JOURNAL (Newcastle, UK)


RACHMANINOV RATTLES SOME RIBS

The St Petersburg Philharmonic's visits to these shores are as brief as the Russian summer and as long in coming. Who, barely a year ago, would have anticipated that Yuri Temirkanov's world-class ensemble would play an exclusive, sold-out, three-day residence in Gateshead?

This was the first visit of an international orchestra to the Sage, and also the first time the chamber-sized platform had to swell to accommodate a symphonic lineup. Though clearly a bit of a squeeze, the hall's tight, singing acoustic coped admirably, saturating the audience with reverberant sound of almost physical immediacy.

The intimacy was further enhanced by the fact that there is probably no orchestra in the world so adept at playing barely above a whisper. The opening strains of Rachmaninov's Vocalise seemed not to begin on a downbeat so much as become delicately teased from the ether. And principal violinist Lev Klychkov's silky statement of the theme drew little gasps from the audience that were almost sufficient to drown it.

The benefit of such subtle, dynamic control is that the fortes strike with the force of an explosion. The concluding passages of Dmitri Alexeev's rampaging Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto no 2 rattled around the ribcage; while the rhythmic savagery of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring made the walls throb.

It is hard to pinpoint precisely what makes the St Petersburg Philharmonic so distinct from a European ensemble. It is partly to do with the instrumentalists' ability to merge into a fluid mass of energy, like a shoal of fish. Yet there is an intangible quality to the sound they make, particularly in the core Slavonic repertoire, which the Russians call dusha and we approximately term as soul.

The extraordinary Russian invasion of Gateshead gave Tynesiders an opportunity to experience some of the sweetest soul music ever made.

24.01.2004
The Guardian (London)


BRIDGE BOWS TO SUPER ORCHESTRA

Musicians from one of the world's top orchestras celebrated their first visit to Tyneside by having The Gateshead Millennium Bridge tilted in their honour.

Russia's St Petersburg Philharmonic completed a three concert-run at The Sage Gateshead last night for what is hoped will be the start of a lasting relationship with the new concert venue.

The 117 musicians were treated to a special tilt of the world famous bridge.

Yuri Temirkanov, principal conductor of the orchestra, was also presented with a friendship cup, known as a quaiche, by Gateshead's Mayor, Coun Pat Ronan, to commemorate the visit.

Gateshead Council Leader Coun Mick Henry, who attended the tilting with Sage director Anthony Sargent, said: "We are honoured an orchestra of this standing would come to perform here. It is a great endorsement of the Sage. I have been emotionally touched by their performances."

22.01.2005
EVENING CHRONICLE (Newcastle, UK)


In something of a coup, and a little over a month into its existence, the Sage in Gateshead is hosting a brief but exclusive UK residency by one of Europe's leading orchestras, the StPetersburg Philharmonic. Over three concerts in the new main hall, the world-renowned ensemble and its music director

Yuri Temirkanov are presenting Stravinsky's most popular ballet scores coupled with the music of Rachmaninov.

Beginning with Petrushka, the orchestra took a little time to find its feet, with a slightly uneven balance and the odd misjudged entry. Perhaps it was still acclimatising to the unforgiving glare of the new concert hall's superb clarity, which came into its own in Stravinsky's more chamber-scale passages.

There was plenty of gentle humour in Temirkanov's shaping of the various solos - especially the puppet-master's flute endowing Petrushka with life - though he spoilt things somewhat by opting for the rarely heard loud concert ending that Stravinsky added as an option in his 1947 revision of the work. It deprived us of the pathos in the more usual fading away to nothingness - though in all truth its pale and deathly conclusion would probably have been destroyed by this particular cough-ridden audience.

In a hall of such a human scale as the Sage, seating 1,700 (a little under half the capacity of the Festival Hall, for example), there was a worry that a work as massive as Rachmaninov's Second Symphony might have overwhelmed the space. It did overwhelm, but the senses rather than the acoustic, though the latter lent its own focus on the wonderful warmth and richness of the strings, right from the double basses at the very start.

Apart from a hesitant moment or two in the first movement's recapitulation, the orchestra expertly steered its way through the music's ebbs and flows, with the passion and energy driven as much by the depth of its inherently flexible tone colouring as by propulsion. Highlights included the famous clarinet solo at the start of the slow movement, its rubato perfectly shaped, together with the tiny quickenings of pace as the glorious melody rises to the movement's main climax.

It was a performance hard to follow but, facing a standing ovation, the orchestra responded with two numbers as encores, crystalline and ardent in turn, from Tchaikovsky ballets. This was music for which the warm and responsive Sage acoustic seems to be made - though tonight's Rite of Spring should be worth travelling far to hear, too.

21.01.2005
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (London)


ST PETERSBURG EARN ENCORES, THOMAS HALL

The St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra at The Sage Gateshead - In the second of its three-concert run at The Sage, the St Petersburg gave its Tyneside audience another demonstration of why it is ranked among the world's top orchestras.

Placed in the concert hall, away from its dance context, Stravinsky's The Fairy Kiss becomes, in effect, a programmatic piece, illustrating Hans Christian Anderson's The Ice Maiden. The musical style, however, is a tribute to an earlier Russian master, Tchaikovsky his songs and piano pieces. It sat well alongside the 1919 version of Stravinsky's The Firebird Suite, both giving music director and principal conductor Yuri Temirkanov the chance to show off the playing of his magnificent orchestra.

Rachmaninov held his last major orchestral work, the Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, written in 1940, to be among his best. With less of Stravinsky's penchant for novelty, the three sections gave a superb performance, easily winning the St Petersburg its resounding encores.

21.01.2005
THE JOURNAL (Newcastle, UK)

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Concerts in the USA, October – November 2004

Russia's oldest symphony orchestra surpassed all expectations Friday evening at George Mason University's Center for the Arts. Featuring a trio of Russian-penned works, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra spilled forth music in the purest form possible -- straight from each score's soul and into the hearts of listeners.

Conducting without a baton, Artistic Director Yuri Temirkanov, who also directs the Baltimore Symphony, led the orchestra through an elegant performance of Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1 in D, Op. 25 ("Classical"). Indeed, the work sounded as though it were being played by a chamber orchestra half the size of the 107-member Philharmonic.

American Lynn Harrell joined the group for Shostakovich's Concerto No. 1 in E-flat for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 107. Harrell bowed so passionately while eliciting myriad sounds from his cello that those near the stage saw a mist of rosin rising. The St. Petersburg proved a sensitive partner for the cellist, allowing him full spotlight but taking it in turn. Harrell's cadenza was especially haunting and introspective to the point of being almost improvisatory.

Captivating the ears with an exhilarating array of dynamics in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 ("Pathetique"), the Philharmonic reveled in the pathos of the composer's final symphony. Its strings presented poetically tender melodies and its brass blared with anguished intensity. The elegiac finale's pedal points resonated in the chest and when the final note decayed into an abysmal silence, the audience reverently waited before erupting with a lengthy -- and well-deserved - ovation.

25.10.2004
The Washington Post
Grace Jean


A Full-Bodied Approach to Eastern Repertory

The St. Petersburg Philharmonic is in town for three concerts at Carnegie Hall this week. The orchestra and its conductor, Yuri Temirkanov, are wasting little time on music to which they are not geographically entitled. The Schumann Piano Concerto on Tuesday is about as far west as these programs go. There was also Dvorak last night, otherwise Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and the like.

…No acoustical properties in any hall can account for the string sound this orchestra makes, which seems to emanate out of the stage floorboards and throb with a dark, slightly opaque glow. …If Prokofiev's familiar First Symphony retained its soubriquet, "Classical," its performers on Tuesday were more or less erasing any other reference to the 18th century. No cut-down violin sections here, no conversational fineness between instruments: there was only big, lovely sound and articulation hidden in a fog of imprecision.

…Indeed, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic is quite a beauty - under the right light, and as long as one doesn't look too closely.

28.10.04
New York Times
Bernard Holland


Cosmic sounds abound when worlds are one Russians touch each other’s souls

Something alchemic occurred Thursday night at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Yuri Temirkanov took standard works of the Russian repertoire, poured them into his St. Petersburg Philharmonic, stirred them with his unself-conscious ideas about the nature of music-making, and created sonic gold.

More than that, he generated the kind of emotional communication that grabs you and doesn't easily let go. I was still reliving moments of that concert the next day, and expect to be doing so for a long time.

Temirkanov sent Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1 on a fleet, effervescent course, without slighting any of the warm or wry aspects in the piece. There was something unmistakably affectionate about the conductor's approach, a gentle underlining of the nostalgic shadows behind this updated classicism.

The Cello Concerto No. 1 by Shostakovich, like so many of his works, suggests an aural diary where innermost worries and dreams have been recorded. The brilliant American cellist Lynn Harrell unlocked those secrets with playing that was extraordinarily incisive and gripping, not to mention technically splendid. Temirkanov matched him for insight; the orchestra, including a fearless horn soloist, matched Harrell for virtuosity.

Temirkanov has programmed Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony twice with the BSO in four years, and inspired potent performances both times, but nothing like what he and his countrymen achieved here.

It was as if everyone on that stage were feeling Tchaikovsky's pain - living it, really.

Without any heavy-handed twists of phrasing or dynamics, Temirkanov made all of this feel incredibly personal and real as he drew a searing response from the Philharmonic. As a demonstration of pure orchestral mettle, the performance would have been striking enough. As an expression of music's visceral power, it was simply profound.

30.10.04
The Baltimore Sun
Tim Smith


A truly memorable night with Repin and famed Russian orchestra

With the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach festooned with American and Russian flags on election eve, conductor Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra opened the Concert Association of Florida's season with rich and majestic performances of both countries' national anthems. It made for a serendipitous ode to democracy at a time of national political ferment.

Under its current artistic director and principal conductor Temirkanov, the orchestra remains an instrument of remarkable firepower, virtuosity and polished precision. The corporate sound is largely consistent: dark burnished strings that turn on a dime, heaven-storming brass and athletic woodwinds. A single horn blooper almost came as a relief: The Russian musicians were human after all.

Prokofiev's Classical Symphony was listed as Monday's curtain raiser, but was replaced without comment by four excerpts from the composer's anarchic opera The Love for Three Oranges. Temirkanov drew a full-metal performance that underlined the clangorous brass riffs and biting sarcasm. The popular March was punched across with a weight and aggressive impact that made the subversive element unmistakable.

The fact that Vadim Repin opted to perform Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 rather than the flashier Second Concerto is testament to the Siberian violinist's artistic integrity. Though not without its virtuosic moments, the First Concerto is a more subdued interior piece, with a dreamlike introspection alternating with bursts of bravura.

From the pastel pianissimos of the opening statement, Repin conveyed the withdrawn romantic essence of the piece with astonishing control, delicacy and poetic elegance. Nothing sounded forced or effortful, and the violinist's even production, sensitive bowing and flawless passagework were put entirely at the service of the music.

The rapid-fire passages were rendered with fluent articulation and natural virtuosity. With the finale's blend of nocturnal lyricism and jocular energy kept in seamless accord, Repin floated the hushed solo line at the coda on a feather-light thread of tone. Temirkanov's eloquent and beautifully layered support was on the same level, making for a truly memorable performance.

The Dvorak centennial season continued with Temirkanov leading his players in the Czech composer's Symphony No. 8. The conductor scrupulously balanced textures, and the unanimity of string ensemble and burst of brassy adrenaline in the acceleration of the final bars was thrilling.

04.11.04
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Lawrence A. Johnson


The St. Petersburg Philharmonic shows it is an elegant Russian ensemble of the first degree.

When powerhouse orchestras tour, they often program powerhouse symphonies by Bruckner, Mahler and their ilk just so no one misses the point. Late on Sunday afternoon at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic showed that it belongs to the first rank of international orchestras by opening the Festival of Orchestras' 21st season with a program that made the same point but in an elegantly understated manner.

Artistic Director Yuri Temirkanov led his visiting Russian ensemble in three outstanding performances of works by Sergei Prokofiev and Antonin Dvorak. None of these is usually considered a "showpiece" for orchestra, but under Temirkanov, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic gave performances that could have served as definitive recordings for the most discriminating collectors.

The program opened with Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1, nicknamed the "Classical Symphony" for its reduced forces, clear formal outlines and a melodic style that imitates Mozart and Haydn, albeit with a slightly modern accent. To the casual listener, the work might have sounded as if it was simply being tossed off by the Russians, but that was only because this orchestra was in such technical command of the work.

The following Concerto No. 1 for Violin, also by Prokofiev, offered more transparent textures, which made it possible to appreciate the many layers, each with its own color. Prokofiev's soaring melodies, which can sound screechy in the hands of a lesser ensemble, were ethereal, and at times in the slow first movement the orchestra sounded magically like a celesta.

Dvorak's Symphony No. 8 formed the second half of the concert, and again it was the orchestra's sound that impressed the most.

The tone of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic displayed a presence and vibrancy that most other orchestras lack in this difficult hall, and a few brief passages with the brass at the end of the fourth movement hinted at the sound that this ensemble could have given, had the work demanded more.

09.11.04
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Scott Warfield


RUSSIANS DISPLAY CLEAN, LIGHT TOUCH AT KRAVIS CENTER

Playing to its considerable strengths, the St. Petersburg (formerly the Leningrad) Philharmonic Orchestra opened the Regional Arts series Friday afternoon with the first of two all-Russian programs at the Kravis Center. And in his return to South Florida, Yuri Temirkanov, the Russians' music director of 16 years, again proved to be one of the most inspiring and eloquent conductors in the field.

Friday's program featured renowned American cellist Lynn Harrell in Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, sandwiched between two orchestral standards: Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1 ("Classical") and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 ("Pathetique"). But little was standard about the program's performances or the two encores.

Harrell comes closest to highlighting the cello's human vocal quality. He even phrases the melodies as if imitating a singer's breath patterns. And like a vocalist, he changes timbre and color to best express the music's sentiments.

He engaged the music - and the listener - so intensely that the Shostakovich emerged as more of a play about the drama and constancy of human striving than an instance of simply gorgeous, incisive playing.

Whether Harrell's soliloquies waxed soulful and sorrowful, distraught or defiant, restive or reflective, Temirkanov backed him up with brilliant effects and beautifully finished lines. The combination was electric, building one of the best conceptualizations of the work.

Temirkanov, with the same rhythmic drive that powered the Shostakovich, heightened the aerodynamics in Prokofiev's Classical and the urgency in Tchaikovsky's Pathetique. Although Tchaikovsky's off-beat "waltz" (second movement) drifted and sank into redundancy, the explosive first and exultant third movements let the celebrated Russian brass players reign triumphant.

French hornist Andrei Gloukhov, among other wind soloists, cradled the listener in the melancholy and yearning.

The Prokofiev, like the Shostakovich concerto, stuttered a bit when players weren't unanimous about the rhythms. But mostly, the Classical symphony was exuberance in flight and a rare model of a large orchestra playing delicately, cleanly and with far more clarity than it mustered in its 2002 Kravis concert.

Mostly, the praise belongs to Temirkanov, so perceptive in his attention to fleeting nuances and details as well as the overall picture.

07.11.2004
Palm Beach Post (Florida)
Sharon McDaniel


MUSIC REVIEW
Russian music stirs symphony audience
Temirkanov baton drives St. Petersburg orchestra

His courtly podium manner belies the Slavic intensity of feeling that flows like an electric current through his elegant hands to the musicians, and, through them, to the rapt audience.

The conductor secured remarkably light and crisp articulations in Prokofiev's "Classical" Symphony despite his deploying a large complement of players. The vivacity, charm and high spirits of this reading rested on a foundation of fleet strings and bubbly woodwinds; indeed, the fiddles sometimes seemed to be tippy-toeing on little cat's feet.

From the Haydnesque levity of the Prokofiev, Temirkanov turned to the mordant satire of Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto and, after intermission, the tragic melodrama of Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" Symphony.

The St. Petersburg players really gave their all to the Shostakovich--tangy winds chattering away obsessively, clarion brasses (including a superb principal horn) hammering away at the composer's motivic signature.

I didn't feel cellist Lynn Harrell, who brought amazing technical control and urgency to the difficult solo part, quite matched his Russian colleagues in emotional fervor, but his stamina was remarkable and he delivered a first-rate performance. The long cadenza that precedes the finale all but sighed with pained introspection.

Both the Shostakovich concerto and Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony journey, to varying degrees, into the heart of darkness. At least that's how the dark, saturated Russian strings (get a load of those nine double basses!) and molten brass, with their distinctive vibrato, approached the "Pathetique." Temirkanov and friends savored the big tune of the opening movement with a flexible, loving devotion no Western orchestra could get away with without being accused of sentimentality; with the Russians, it seemed utterly natural, even inevitable. The sense of ineffable tragedy that hung over this reading gripped the audience in an emotional vise.

12.11.04
Chicago Tribune
John von Rhein


The Russian fire burns brightly

The Kansas City Star When Russia's most eminent conductor and its most prominent orchestra come to town for a program of Russian music, expectations are naturally going to be high.Saturday's Harriman Arts Program concert of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic did not disappoint.Conductor Yuri Temirkanov is today's most distinguished interpreter of Russian orchestral music, the operative word being interpreter. He truly sculpts music in ways that the composers might have imagined.The program began with Prokofiev's “Classical” Symphony, in which Temirkanov took the opportunity to clown a bit: He was facing the wrong direction when the first violins spit out their spiky second theme, causing him to whirl around in mock-surprise.Though some of the second and third movements strayed toward the mechanical at times, there was a sense of leisure and calm, a perfume of the Old World in which this orchestra is rooted. (It was founded in 1802.) They play with a bright, luscious tone — brilliantine strings, muscular brass and assertive winds (including a brash principal clarinet) that respond to every flick of Temirkanov's wrist. When he would lock his arms in an “O” shape and send a melody spinning into the air, the strings would swell right alongside him like dancers following a choreographer.Cellist Lynn Harrell took to the stage for Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto, a searing and emotional piece that daunted neither Harrell nor his colleagues. He played with a big, clear tone and a vibrato that always had a firm center despite being a bit wide for my taste.His musical grasp of the enigmatic cadenza was impressive. Temirkanov seemed to have subdued his own interpretive temperament in favor of Harrell's less extravagant one, which caused things to lapse into auto-pilot at times. The audience called back Harrell for a Bouree from Bach's Third Cello Suite.I vaguely dreaded having to sit through Tchaikovsky's ubiquitous Sixth Symphony, but Temirkanov piqued my imagination in the first bars and pulled me in. It was like a movie that suddenly makes you forget you're sitting in a theater.It brought back the conductor into full engagement, too: The outer movements burned with smoldering passion, with the strings growing organically from nothingness to a growling fortissimo and back to nothingness.The inner movements seemed too straightforward, perhaps, but this had the effect of making the fourth movement all the more tragic. It was not breast-beating tragedy, but instead a knowing and resigned sadness, like a tale of some dying hero.Arguably the best playing of the evening was in the single encore, from the finale of Elgar's “Enigma” Variations, which was played with buttery-rich grandeur.

15.11.04
The Kansas City Star
Paul Horsley


Russian group both dazzles and fizzles

To hear conductor Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic at their most sublime, a listener had to wait patiently until after the intermission of Saturday's concert in Davies Symphony Hall, the second of three programs presented as part of the San Francisco Symphony's Great Performers Series.

It happened several minutes into the first movement of Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" Symphony, where the tempo slows and the composer pours out one of his most glorious, heartfelt melodies. This kind of broad-beamed lyrical effusion is what orchestra and conductor do best, and the unfolding of this sumptuous theme was breathtaking.

The magic began even before the theme did, in the pregnant silence just preceding it -- a reverent hush that seemed to promise something luminous just around the bend. And there it was, uttered first by the strings and on later appearances by a solo clarinet, a tune that passed with gradually mounting ardor through the simplest of notes to achieve an almost mystical sheen.

Temirkanov resisted any urge to oversell the music. The intensification that comes in the second part of the theme -- a pair of compact, sigh-like gestures that crown the bigger sweep of the outer phrases -- emerged as if of its own volition, just through the slow accumulation of sound.

And what a sound it was! The strings pulsed with an almost unnatural plushness, the brass and woodwinds supported the tune with gracious subdued harmonies. It was breathtaking.

22.11.04
Chronicle
Joshua Kosman


DRAMATIC, ENTHRALLING EVENING WITH THE ST. PETERSBURG PHILHARMONIC

The orchestra and violin soloist Vadim Repin delivered the program's tapestry of colors with poise, polish and entrancing sound.

Repin's exciting yet confident and refined interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto showed impeccable technique, daring without schmaltz and stunning virtuosity.

The entire program exposed the 120-piece orchestra's great talent and discipline. Though huge, the ensemble responded like a much smaller group.

Conductor Nikolai Alexeev took advantage of that flexibility often, guiding the orchestra with conservative yet effective direction, especially in the Dvorak and the two charming encores from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite."

Prokoviev's Suite from the "Love for Three Oranges" opened the program with a charismatic exhibition of the orchestra's skills - ranging from delicate to gutsy in typical modern harmonies and rhythms, ending in a well-paced and noble march.

Though Dvorak was Czech and not Russian, his Symphony No. 8 gave the Russian orchestra the opportunity to open its thrilling voice full throttle and shake Jackson Hall with welcome sound.

20.11.04
Sacramento Bee
Patricia Beach Smith

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Concerts in Kaliningrad on August 17 and 18, 2004

«Kaliningrad rose in applause»

Arts festival «Baltic Seasons» in Kaliningrad Regional Drama Theatre featured two performances of St.-Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by national artist of the USSR Yuri Temirkanov.

Probably not everybody present at these concerts knew how lucky they were – it is nearly impossible now to see Temirkanov on the podium outside the capitals and not because of Maestro’s snobbery.

– For the last 10-15 years we only play in St.-Petersburg, Moscow and abroad, – Yuri Khatuevich told journalists at the press-conference few hours before the performance. – But not because we do not want to play in Russian towns. We cannot do so for economic reasons. And it is unlikely that things will change in the nearest future.

According to the Maestro, it is impossible not only to perform in Russia, but also to find musicians for the orchestra – our best musical talents go to Europe and the States once they stand on their own feet. And the foreigners do not want to work in an orchestra (even a very famous one with a renowned conductor) for a scanty (by their standards) payment.

Probably the situation in Russian culture determined the choice of works for the first performance of the orchestra in Kaliningrad. Mussorgsky’s «Songs and Dances of Death» and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony e-moll hardly can be called cheerful.

Yuri Temirkanov is a unique conductor. An actor, he fascinated the auditorium, the orchestra has long given itself into his hands. The auditorium was electrified by Maestro’s expressiveness and inspiration, his specific conducting style, his ability to stop or to revive the music as if just by a simple look. The concert ended in ovation. Kaliningrad rose in applause for the musicians and Maestro Temirkanov.

19.08.04
Kaliningradskaya Pravda (Kaliningrad)
Irina Klimovich

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Concerts in London on BBC Proms on August 2004

Yuri Temirkanov has headed the St Petersburg Philharmonic for so long- it is 16 years since he succeeded the legendary Mravinsky - that he must be credited with the maintenance of its remarkable standards. On the podium, no conductor is more solipsistic, but the control is genuine and the results fascinating, even if rarely absolutely convincing. Glinka's Valse-Fantaisie made a brilliantly imaginative start, played with restraint and refinement, perfectly evoking the aristocratic ballroom. Temirkanov kept his players on a tight rein in Prokofiev's fascinating Second Piano Concerto too, allowing attention to focus on Yefim Bronfman's gripping account of a solo part that somehow manages to simultaneously inhabit the aesthetic worlds of both pre- and post-revolutionary Russia. In Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony the verdict was more mixed. Propelled by an endlessly dynamic double-bass section and topped by authentically fruity Russian woodwind and brass playing, the virtuosity was at times breathtaking. Yet Temirkanov was determined to put his own quirky stamp on this high-speed reading, at times reducing Tchaikovsky to a kind of parody. It was magnificent and slightly ridiculous at the same time.

25.08.2004
«The Guardian»
Michael Billington


«Proms: authentically versatile»

… The second of their two Proms again marked the bicentenary of Glinka's birth, this time with the less well-known dance music from Act 3 of Ruslan and Lyudmila - silkily played and sounding more French than Russian. Siberian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky was then soloist in Shostakovich's orchestration of Musorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death, using his theatrical manner to act out the drama. And the dance/death theme continued in the main work, Rakhmaninov's Symphonic Dances. Here, in a performance stronger on lyrical warmth than fizz, Temirkanov drew the most characteristically Russian sounds from his orchestra, revelling in its blend of unique colours.

25.08.2004
«The Daily Telegraph»
Matthew Rye

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Concert in Essen on September 1, 2004

St.-Petersburg Orchestra brings Greetings from the East.

… But what we had in the program yesterday night: St.-Petersburg Orchestra, remarkably younger, which already as Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra was the main Russian Orchestra and has reached highs with legendary Mravinsky and Kurt Sanderling, fully dedicated itself to Eastern Music. The concert started with the impression of Russian morning from magnificent opera by Modest Mussorgsky “Khovanschina”. Finely woven, colourfully adorned and promising as the prelude to the night.

Temirkanov, who succeeded Mravinsky in 1988, conducts without a baton, that one can only afford if one has strongly convincing gestures. In reality Temirkanov has impact, with his abrupt gestures he can animate and inspire. He thickened the Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony e-moll (the one from the “New World”) with quick tempi, which made the phrasing of the first movement remarkably elegantly light.

Not too sweet, melancholic Largo with delicately profiled woodwind. Resilient and captivating Scherzo. And then primitive power in the swollen Finale. And in the second part skilful “Symphonic Dances” by Russia Sergey Rachmaninov, that Temirkanov needed to show at once all strengths of his orchestra: tight and flexible touch, not at least forced dash of brass, sensitively harmonic woodwind and sharpen percussions. In Rachmaninov’s last major work, with the dark middle movement complementing Sibelius’s “Valse triste” once again glitters the theme of Dies Irae. The day of wrath – this concert did not give any reason for this.

02.09.04
«Die Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung»
Michael Stenger

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Concert in Vienna 22.02.04

«The Russians let it thunder»

In Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony the Russian guests really let it thunder. In their melancholy and pride they showed the Russian soul of one of their greatest composers.

Temirkanov confidently lead his orchestra through the evening with mostly spare gestures and at the end he pleased the captivated auditorium with two encores, which were also followed by bursting applause.

24.02.2004
Weiner Zeitung
Christina Mondolfo


«The orchestra rushed off: gloominess, sentimentality (with soft vibrating horn solo in Andante) and rattling pomp – with an attractive disposition for music acerbity they made the most of everything».

24.02.2004
www.diepresse.at

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Concert in Cologne 25.02.04

«The Power of Reconciliation»

«St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra went lyric in Cologne Philarmonie.

The prelude to Mussorgsky’s opera “Khovanschina” is known as concert piece under the poetic title “Dawn on the Moskva River”. St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra opened with this clearly performed city panorama their concert in Philharmonie. The chief conductor Yuri Temirkanov managed to bring everything together - morning light and awaking nature, choir song and bell chimes.

This wonderful picture of emotions was a suitable introduction into a program, which was rather lyric than dramatic and in which the power of music came rather from reconciliation than from confrontation.

The conductor Yuri Temirkanov avoids any imperial gestures. He disdains the baton - both as a symbol of authority and as an instrument of tailor’s precision. The Second Symphony by Johannes Brahms with its fear for conflicts and pastoral orchestration became even softer and more fluent. The magnificent wide sound of St. Petersburg strings was as always at the foreground, the woodwinds were well incorporated, only brasswinds occasionally fell out. Naturally in every tact one could hear the performance of a world-class orchestra…»

26.02.04
Koelner Stadt Unzeiger
Stefan Rutter

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