Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2

For this final concert by the Tatarstan State Symphony Orchestra on 23rd February, "Conductor of the Year" Prize recipient (The Musical Review) Alexander Sladkovsky will return to lead the ensemble for a unique performance featuring works by two of Russia’s most cherished composers, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The concert begins with Rachmaninoff’s iconic and lushly orchestrated Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by Russian pianist Denis Matsuev, a hugely successful performer who first rose to prominence following his triumph at the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998. Following the intermission, the orchestra returns to perform Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, an intricate work that perplexed many contemporary critics when it was premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg in 1888, but has nonetheless gone on to become one of the composer’s most popular and recognisable works. This concert is organised by CMDI Group and SAMIT Event Group, with the support of the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC).

Programme:

S. Rachmaninoff

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

--Intermission

P. Tchaikovsky

Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

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 Saint Petersburg conservatories. He is a winner of the III International Prokofiev Competition.

In 2001, he conducted in a concert at the Hermitage Theater in honor of the visit of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. He assisted Mariss Jansons and Mstislav Rostropovich and from 2006 to 2010 he was a conductor of the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Yuri Bashmet. Since 2010 Alexander Sladkovsky is an Artistic Director and a Chief Conductor of the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra in the city of Kazan (Tatarstan, Russia).

The TNSO under the direction of Alexander Sladkovsky is the first Russian regional orchestra recorded by Medici.tv and Mezzo channels. In 2014, the TNSO conducted by Alexander Sladkovsky performed at the La Folle Journée festival in Japan. In 2016, for the first time in the orchestra’s history, it gave concerts during a European tour in the Brucknerhaus (Linz) and in the Golden Hall of Musikverein (Vienna). In December 2018, the TNSO and Maestro Alexander Sladkovsky made the first tour in China, and in 2019, the TNSO conducted by Alexander Sladkovsky performed at the La Folle Journée festival in France.

In 2016 in cooperation with the Melodiya record label several global musical projects were realized: the recording of three symphonies of G. Mahler (Nos. 1, 5, 9) and all symphonies and concertos of D. Shostakovich. In May 2020, the digital release of the “Tchaikovsky-2020” box set took place — a recording of all symphonies and instrumental concerts by P. I. Tchaikovsky on the Sony Classical label. In August 2020, the TNSO under the direction of Alexander Sladkovsky recorded symphonic works by S. Rachmaninoff on the Sony Classical label. March 2021 concert-presentations of the box set «Sergey Rachmaninoff. Symphony Collection» were held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kazan. In July 2021, all of L. van Beethoven's symphonies and music of I. Stravinsky's ballets were recorded. The presentation concerts of the box set of I. Stravinsky's recordings will be held in April 2022 in Perm, Moscow, Kazan, St. Petersburg and Sochi.

Recordings of the concerts of the orchestra conducted by Alexander Sladkovsky are regularly broadcasted on radio Orpheus, BBC Radio 3, Kultura TV.

In 2019, Alexander Sladkovsky was awarded the Sergei Rachmaninoff International Award in the nomination “Special Project in the Name of Sergei Rachmaninoff” for special attention to his legacy and organizing the Sergei Rachmaninoff International Festival “White Lilac” in Kazan.

On September 1, 2021, by order of the rector of the N. Zhiganov Kazan State Conservatory artistic director and chief conductor of the TNSO Alexander Sladkovsky was appointed professor of the Department of Opera and Symphony Conducting at the N. Zhiganov Kazan State Conservatory.

The Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Sladkovsky is currently the first and only regional orchestra that has been honored to have its own annual subscription in the Moscow State Philharmonic Society.

Denis Matsuev

Piano

Denis Matsuev has quickly established himself as one of the most prominent pianists of his generation, since his triumphant victory in the XI International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Denis Matsuev is a laureate of “Shostakovich’s Prize” in Music as well as the State Prize of Russian Federation in Literature and Arts. He also is a “People’s Artist of Russia”, Honorary Professor of the Moscow State University and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

Mr. Matsuev’s performances in the most prestigious concert halls of the world are always an unfailing success and he appears regularly with world-famous orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh, the London Symphony Orchestra, NY Philharmonic, Philadelphia and LA philharmonic, Concertgebouw, Vienna, Berlin Philharmonic orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Russian National Orchestra. He works with the world’s most prominent conductors including Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Christian Thielemann, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Kent Nagano, Riccardo Chailly, Antonio Pappano, Gianandrea Noseda, Mikhail Pletnev.

He performed at the closing ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014.

Mr. Matsuev is the president of the “New Names” foundation and director of the Grand Piano Competition in Moscow and Astana Piano Passion Competition for young pianists. For many years Denis Matsuev has been the Artistic Director of the Sergei Rachmaninov Foundation. In 2021 he becomes the artistic director of renewed Rachmaninoff Competition in Moscow with three nominations: pianist, composer and conductor. In 2021 he becomes the artistic director of renewed Rachmaninoff Competition in Moscow with three nominations: pianist, composer and conductor.

In 2017 Denis Matsuev was awarded with State Order of Honour and got the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation for “Stars on the Baikal” festival in Irkutsk. As the Ambassador of FIFA World Cup Russia Denis organized the unique globally broadcasted concert with participation of Valery Gergiev, Anna Netrebko, Placido Domingo and other stars of classical music at the Red Square in Moscow on 13th of June 2018. In 2019 Denis Matsuev was awarded with Lev Nikolaev Gold Medal for his significant contribution to education and popularization of science and culture.

Denis Matsuev was the Chairman of the jury for XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition in the piano category.

Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra

The Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra has achieved worldwide acclaim for its sophisticated performances and dynamic programs. The orchestra was the inspiration of Nazib Zhiganov, former Chairman of the Composers Union of Tatarstan and Dean of the Kazan Conservatory. On the initiative of Zhiganov and Tabeev, the first secretary of the Tatar regional committee of the CPSU, conductor Natan Rakhlin was invited to Kazan. After his death in 1979, Renat Salavatov, Sergey Kalagin, Ravil Martynov, Imant Kotsinsh have worked with the orchestra. In 1985 Fuat Mansurov, the People’s Artist of Russia and the Kazakh SSR, was offered to be an artistic director and chief conductor; he has worked with the TNSO for 25 years. In 2010, after the death of Fuat Mansurov, the Honored artist of Russia (People’s Artist of Russia since 2016, People’s Artist of Republic of Tatarstan since 2020) Alexander Sladkovsky, with whom the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra opened the 45th concert season, was appointed the new Artistic Director and Chief Conductor.

The orchestra has entered a new phase since Maestro Sladkovsky came. Organized by the TNSO and Alexander Sladkovsky international music festivals such as Rakhlin Seasons, Miras, White Lilac, Kazan Autumn, Concordia, Denis Matsuev Meets Friends, International Organ festival and Creative Discovery are considered ones of the most prominent events in cultural life of Tatarstan and Russia. The orchestra runs the project “Property of the Republic” for talented pupils from music schools and conservatory students; the educational project for Kazan school pupils “Music lessons with an orchestra” and the project “Healing through music” for seriously ill children.

Among the creative partners of the TNSO are such famous performers and cultural figures as Ildar Abdrazakov, Boris Andrianov, Boris Berezovsky, Igor Butman, Aida Garifullina, Khibla Gerzmava, Veronika Dzhioeva, Placido Domingo, Barry Douglas, Simone Kermes, Sergey Krylov, Vasily Ladyuk Nikolay Lugansky, Mischa Maisky, Denis Matsuev, Mikhail Pletnev, Edward Radzinsky, Vadim Repin, Sergey Roldugin, Maxim Rysanov, Chulpan Khamatova, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Nikolaj Znaider, Sumi Cho, Albina Shagimuratova and others.

Over the years, the orchestra has also collaborated with a number of conductors, including Yuri Bashmet, Vladimir Altshuler, Michael Güttler, Ken-David Mazur, Christopher Moulds, Andres Mustonen, Krzysztof Penderecki, Marc Piollet, Vladimir Spivakov, Ernst Theis, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Dmitry Jurowski, Kristjan Jarvi, Freddy Cadena and many others.

The TNSO under the direction of Alexander Sladkovsky is the first Russian regional orchestra recorded by Medici.tv and Mezzo channels. In 2014, the TNSO conducted by Alexander Sladkovsky performed at the La Folle Journée festival in Japan. In 2016, for the first time in the orchestra’s history, it gave concerts during a European tour in the Brucknerhaus (Linz) and in the Golden Hall of Musikverein (Vienna). In December 2018, the TNSO and Maestro Alexander Sladkovsky made the first tour in China. In 2019, the TNSO conducted by Alexander Sladkovsky performed at the La Folle Journée festival in France.

Recordings of the concerts of the orchestra conducted by Alexander Sladkovsky are regularly broadcasted on radio Orpheus, BBC Radio 3, Kultura TV.