St. Petersburg Philharmonic to Perform Shostakovich and Brahms at Cherry Orchard Festival

The legendary St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Russia's oldest musical ensemble, returns to New York on Saturday, March 4 to celebrate its 135th anniversary with a concert at Carnegie Hall, led by its esteemed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Yuri Temirkanov.

Maestro Temirkanov celebrates his 80th birthday in 2017, and has led the orchestra for nearly thirty years having made his debut with the ensemble 50 years ago. Joining them is pianist Nikolai Lugansky, winner of 1994 Tchaikovsky International Competition, in a program comprised of two contrasting masterpieces in D minor: by Shostakovich, his Symphony No. 5, Opus 47, and by Brahms, the Piano Concerto No. 1, Opus 15.

Both composers were still young men, working under duress when they created these works. In the case of Shostakovich, the turmoil was caused by direct attacks by Joseph Stalin, the leader of his country, and in the case of Brahms, by his deeply conflicted feelings for his mentors Robert and Clara Schumann.

This concert is the first offering of the 2017 Cherry Orchard Festival which celebrates the international arts in the heart of New York City and beyond. Tickets for the March 4 concert, priced at $35. - $150. are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or may be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, CarnegieHall.org or CherryOrchardFestival.org.

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 was premiered in the fall of 1937 by the ensemble when it was known as the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. The work is frequently subtitled "A Soviet Artist's Response to Just Criticism." It was composed in the spring of 1937 when the composer was denounced by Stalin's regime for the frankly sexual nature of his highly popular opera, "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsenk District." The 5th, ending with a relentlessly rousing march, was success, with an ovation lasting half an hour. But over the decades the controversy over this work, recognized as one of the greatest of the genre of the 20th century, has persisted. Was Shostakovich celebrating Stalin's regime, or the opposite?

The alliance between Maestro Evgeny Mravinsky, who led the Orchestra for 50 years, and Shostakovich was unique in the musical world. Many symphonies of the composer, including the Eighth, which was dedicated to the conductor, were performed by Mravinsky for the first time. In 1975 the name of Shostakovich was given to the Philharmonic.

Pianist Nikolai Lugansky, "a keenly intelligent pianist who values textural clarity... whose virtuosic playing bears the hallmarks of the Russian Romantic heritage" (Tommasini, The New York Times), joins the orchestra for Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1. Completed in 1858, it reflects a time of exquisite emotional turbulence in Brahms' young life. In creating it he used material initially intended for a projected symphony and then a sonata for two pianos. In those years, Robert Schumann, who was responsible for launching Brahms' career, was institutionalized in an insane asylum, following his suicide attempt. His wife Clara was banned from visiting him, and Brahms, in love with Clara (14 years his senior), and beholden to his musical "father," whom he was permitted to visit, was torn by his feelings for the celebrated husband and wife. Schumann died in 1856. The concerto, competed in 1858, and whose Adagio he described to Clara as a portrait of her, only succeeded with an audience after its third public performance. Its premiere in 1859 was met with indifference, and loud hissing was the reaction to its second performance. It was only after the third performance that it became a critical and audience success.

The St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1882, when, on the order of Czar Alexander III, the Court Musicians Choir was established, the prototype of today's Honored Collective of the Russian Federation. The Musicians Choir was founded to perform in the imperial presence at events at the royal court. The pinnacle of this type of activity was the participation of the choir in 1896 in the pageantry for the coronation of Nicholas II.

In 1897 the Court Choir became the Court Orchestra and its musicians were transferred from the military department and given the same rights as the actors of the Imperial theatres. In the early 20th century the orchestra was entitled to perform at commercial concerts for the general public. The series of concerts "Orchestral Collections of Musical News" saw the first Russian performances of Richard Strauss' symphonic poems "Ein Heldenleben" and "Also sprach Zarathustra", Mahler's First Symphony, Bruckner's Ninth Symphony and Scriabin's "Poem of Ecstasy." The concerts included performances by one composer, a series of concerts by subscription, and a "historical series" accompanied by a lecture or an introductory address. Among the conductors were world-renowned musicians Richard Strauss, Arthur Nikisch, Alexander Glazunov and Serge Koussevitsky.

In 1917 the Orchestra became the State Orchestra and in accordance with the Decree of 1921 it was incorporated into the newly founded Petrograd Philharmonia, the first of its kind in the country. Shortly after, unprecedented tours began with a myriad of high profile western conductors including Otto Klemperer, Bruno Walter and Felix Weingartner. As soloists, Vladimir Horowitz and Sergey Prokofiev (who played his piano concertos) performed with the orchestra. With them the foreign conductors brought more modern repertoire - Stravinsky, Schönberg, Berg, Hindemith, Honegger and Poulenc as well as music written by the contemporary Russian composers. In 1918 the orchestra performed for the first time the Classical Symphony by Prokofiev, under his baton. In 1926 Shostakovich debuted with his First Symphony in the Grand Hall of the Philharmonia (conducted by Nikolay Malko).

In 1934 the orchestra became the first ensemble in the country to receive the name Honored Collective of the Russian Federation. Four years later Evgeny Mravinsky joined the orchestra and during his term of half a century, he created one of the best orchestras in the world. 1946 saw the first ever tour abroad in Soviet history for the orchestra. The orchestra acquainted the Leningrad concert-goers with the music of other Russian contemporary composers as well as Soviet premieres of works by Honneger, Hindemith, Bartók, Penderecki, Schönberg, Britten, Poulenc along with the works of old masters such as Bach, Händel, Vivaldi, Purcell, Corelli, Telemann, Pergolesi. Soon the most highly acclaimed conductors from all over the world were coming to conduct the orchestra in Leningrad.

In 1952, the orchestra's collaboration with G. Rozhdestvensky began. After the death of Mravinsky in 1988, the orchestra selected Yuri Temirkanov as its principal conductor. Recently, Milan's Corriere della Sera wrote of the long collaboration, "Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra are something unique in world music panorama...amazing musicians, where everyone is a soloist, but in perfect ensemble and confluence with others".

Highlights over recent years for the orchestra have included performing the 7th "Leningrad" Symphony by Shostakovich at the United Nations at an event dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the WWII victory; opening the Carnegie Hall season (the first ever by a Russia orchestra); participation in the Second Moscow World Orchestras Festival and opening of the First Rostropovich Week Moscow Festival; and participation in Enescu Festival (Romania) and in MiTo (Italy).

The repertoire of the orchestra has been enriched by Russian premieres such as "Il canto sospeso" by Nono, "The Third and the Last Testament" by Obukhov, Fifth Symphony by Grechaninov, Polish Requiem by Penderecki (under the composer's baton) and Post-scriptum by V.Kissine; world premieres: "...al niente" by Kancheli, Symphonies by Segerstam, Slonimsky, Tishchenko; St Petersburg premieres: the 7th Symphony in E Major by Schubert, the oratorio "L'enfance du Christ" by Berlioz, "Eine Messe des Lebens" by Delius, and the music of "Der Schneemann" by Korngold.

Since 1988 Yuri Temirkanov has been the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he regularly undertakes major international tours and recordings.

After winning the prestigious All-Soviet National Conducting Competition in 1966, he was invited by Kiril Kondrashin to tour Europe and the USA with legendary violinist David Oistrakh and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.

Maestro Temirkanov made his debut with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly the Leningrad Philharmonic) in early 1967. In 1968, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra, where he remained until his appointment as Music Director of the Kirov Opera and Ballet (now the Mariinsky Theatre) in 1976. He remained in this position until 1988 and his productions of Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades have become legendary in the theatre's history.

Maestro Temirkanov has appeared with leading European orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome and La Scala, Milan and others.

After making his London debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1977, he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor, and then in 1992 named Principal Conductor, a position he held until 1998. From 1992 to 1997 he was also the Principal Guest Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic and from 1998 to 2008 Principal Guest Conductor of the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. A regular visitor to the USA, he conducts the major orchestras of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He was the Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 2000 till 2006, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre until 2009. In 2010 - 2012, he was Music Director of Teatro Regio di Parma.

His numerous recordings include collaborations with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic with whom he recorded the complete Stravinsky ballets and Tchaikovsky symphonies.

For ten days over the Christmas holiday, Maestro Temirkanov hosts the annual International Winter Festival Arts Square in St Petersburg, Russia. Unique in its concept, the festival gathers artists of the highest caliber. The focal point of the 14th Festival was the celebration of Temirkanov's 75th birthday and the 25th anniversary of his leadership of the St Petersburg Philharmonic. The grand opening, conducted by Mariss Jansons and Nikolai Alexeev, was in honor of the maestro, with a grand gala concert featuring Yuri Bashmet, Paata Burchuladze, Elisso Virsaladze, Natalia Gutman, Denis Matsuev, Vadim Repin, Sayaka Shoji and Viktoria Yastrebova.

Maestro Temirkanov has received many distinguished awards in Russia. He has been awarded the Order "For Merit for the Country" of all the four degrees (1998, 2003, 2008, 2013). In 2003 and 2007, he received the Abbiati Prize for Best Conductor, and in 2003 was named Conductor of the Year in Italy. Recently, he was made an Honorary Accademician of Santa Cecilia. In 2012 he was awarded "The Commander of the Order of the Star of Italy" and in 2015 the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan).

Capable of great refinement and sensitivity in Mozart and Chopin, and breathtaking virtuosity and "crystalline beauty" (The Financial Times) in Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, Nikolai Lugansky is a pianist of extraordinary depth and versatility.

Continuing a long-standing relationship, Lugansky will partner with St. Petersburg Philharmonic and Yuri Temirkanov on a North American tour in February 2017. Concerto highlights for the 2016/2017 season include debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Symphony, and return engagements with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony. He continues his cycle of the complete Prokofiev Piano Concerti with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the composer's birth.

Upcoming recital and chamber music performances include the Alte Oper Frankfurt, London's Wigmore Hall, Paris' Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Geneva, Budapest, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire and the Great Hall of the St Petersburg Philharmonia. His chamber music collaborators include Mischa Maisky, Vadim Repin and Alexander Kniazev. Lugansky regularly appears at some of the world's most distinguished festivals, including in the coming season, La Roque d'Anthéron, Verbier, Tanglewood, Aspen, and Ravinia.

An award-winning recording artist, Nikolai Lugansky records exclusively for the Naïve-Ambroisie label. His recital CD featuring Rachmaninov's Piano Sonatas won the Diapason d'Or and an ECHO Klassik Award while his recording of concertos by Grieg and Prokofiev with Kent Nagano and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin was a Gramophone Editor's Choice. His earlier recordings have also won a number of awards, including a Diapason d'Or, BBC Music Magazine Award and ECHO Klassik prize. Lugansky's most recent disc of music by Schubert was released in 2016 with a new recording of Tchaikovsky due for release in 2017.

Lugansky is Artistic Director of the Tambov Rachmaninov Festival and is also a supporter of, as well as a regular performer at, the Rachmaninov Estate and Museum of Ivanovka. He studied at Moscow's Central Music School and the Moscow Conservatoire where his teachers included Tatiana Kestner, Tatiana Nikolayeva and Sergei Dorensky. He was awarded the honor of People's Artist of Russia in April 2013.

Nikolai Lugansky studied at Moscow's Central Music School and the Moscow Conservatoire where his teachers included Tatiana Kestner, Tatiana Nikolayeva and Sergei Dorensky. He was awarded the honor of People's Artist of Russia in April 2013.

The annual Cherry Orchard Festival, a production of the Cherry Orchard Foundation, is a celebration of the international arts in the heart of New York City and beyond. Each of its world-class, multi-disciplinary performing and visual arts attractions is unique and never has been presented before in the US. Festival's creative team finds the newest and most daring projects in the international arts arena and introduces it to audience. Festival's mission is to initiate and promotes global cultural activity and exchange of ideas to an inter-generational audience through entertaining and educational programming and events in all genres. The team is committed to providing the finest entertainment, exceptional musical performances and enlightening educational programs to its patrons. Visit CherryOrchardFestival.org for more information.