Concert Shostakovich. "Leningrad" Symphony Maestro Yury Temirkanov Grand Philharmonic Hall (established 1802)
Schedule for Shostakovich. "Leningrad" Symphony 2022
Orchestra: The St.Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich
“On that peaceful summer morning of June 22, 1941, I was on my way to the Leningrad Stadium to see my favourite Sunday soccer game,” Shostakovich wrote. “Molotov’s radio address found me hurrying down the street… Our fruitful, constructive existence was rudely shattered!” The Nazi invasion of Russia had brought Hitler’s hordes to the gates of Leningrad where they laid siege.
At the time, the 35-year-old Shostakovich was head of the Leningrad Conservatoire’s piano department. He began work on his Seventh Symphony in the first hot days of July. “Neither savage raids, German planes, nor the grim atmosphere of the beleaguered city could hinder the flow,” he recalled. “I worked with an inhuman intensity I have never before reached.”
More than 600,000 people died in the siege. After enduring the terrible conditions for a month, Shostakovich agreed to be evacuated to Moscow, taking the completed first three movements of the symphony along. With the rest of the government, he was then evacuated once more, this time to the temporary capital of Kuibyshev on the river Volga where he finished the symphony in December 1941.
The mammoth work runs for over 78 minutes (the first movement alone lasts nearly half an hour). Shostakovich asks for an equally gargantuan orchestra including eight horns, six trombones, two harps, a piano, three side drums and a full complement of other percussion instruments.
The first performance was given on March 5, 1942 by the Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, which had also been evacuated to Kuibyshev, conducted by Samuil Samosud. But before Leningrad heard the work, it was broadcast by the BBC on June 22, 1942 – the first anniversary of Russia’s entry into the war – conducted by Sir Henry Wood.
But how?
A microfilm of the score had been smuggled out of Russia and it was in this way that the US, too, heard the symphony before Leningrad when Toscanini conducted the NBC Symphony in a broadcast on July 19, 1942.
The “Leningrad” was finally performed in Leningrad itself on August 9 and, until the end of the 1940s, enjoyed great popularity. But it later fell out of favour and only regained popularity in the 1960s. Despite its often obvious effects, Shostakovich’s Seventh is a stirring piece of contemporary history.
About the St.Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
The St.Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Yuri
Temirkanov, is the oldest orchestra in Russia. Its official birthday, 1882, is
preceded by a series of events that now comprise the history of musical life in
the former capital of the Russian Empire. When Peter the Great laid the
foundations for the city of St.Petersburg in 1703, he was determined that his
new capital would be a European town. Leading Italian, and later German,
composers and musicians lived and created in the city on the Neva.
In 1802, a group of music-loving Russian aristocrats founded Europe’s first
philharmonic society in the city. On 19th October 1917, during the Great
October Revolution, the orchestra was changed by decree into a state
orchestra and gave its first public concert in the Soviet Union on 8th
November. A year later the orchestra was incorporated into the newly founded
Petrograd Philharmonic, which became the first major musical organization in the
USSR.
In October 1920, the People’s Commissar of Education, Anatoly Lunacharsky,
himself a lover of classical music, issued the following decree: «I declare the
Petrograd State Philharmonic Orchestra to be the only symphonic institution of
the republic and as such a model and exemplary body. Any infringement leading to
the disorganization of the activities of the orchestra or any other attempts to
destroy it are hereby decreed a felony. The State Philharmonic Orchestra of
Petrograd must remain an inviolable Institution of national importance.»
In the following years, the orchestra’s repertoire was developed and expanded
by its administrative directors, Ossovskaya and Sollertinsky, who introduced
performances of the Beethoven, Mahler and Bruckner symphonic cycles. Mravinsky
took over as music director in 1938 and continued in this position for almost 50
years. There was a great artistic friendship between Mravinsky and
Shostakovich, and Mravinsky became the first and the most renowned interpreter
of Shostakovich’s works. The orchestra frequently gave premiere performances of
his works which now take a special place in the orchestra’s repertoire. After
Mravinsky’s death in 1988 Yuri Temirkanov was appointed Music Director and
Principal Conductor of the Orchestra. The St.Petersburg Philharmonic was
the first Soviet orchestra to tour abroad. After the war, the orchestra toured
over 25 countries in Europe, Asia, and America conducted by Stokowski, Munch,
Cluyens, Markevitch, Kosef Krips, Kodaly and Britten. In addition to its regular
concert series at the renowned philharmonic Hall in St.Petersburg, the Orchestra
now regularly tours Europe, Japan and the USA. In 1991, shortly after the
renaming of the city, the Orchestra changed its name from the Leningrad
Philharmonic the St.Petersburg Philharmonic.
During the past ten years the orchestra has completed substantial tours
throughout Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Italy, the UK, the USA, South
America, the Far East and Japan, and appeared at major summer festivals
including Lucerne, Salzburg, Edinburgh and the BBS Proms. The orchestra can
be heard with Yuri Temirkanov conducting on BMG Classics and Warner, with Mariss
Jansons on EMI an With Vladimir Ashkenasy on Decca.
International recognition: press reviews about tours of the
St.Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra worldwide
ORCHESTRA STRUCTURE
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First violinsLaureate of All-Russian
competitions, Holder of All-Union competitions diploma, Honoured artist of
Russia Lev Klytchkov Pavel Popov Alexander Zolotarev Yuri
Uschapovsky Valentin Lukin Sergei Teterin Holder of All-Russian
competitions diploma Olga Rybaltchenko Natalia Sokolova Alexei
Vasiliev Alexander Rikhter Mikhail Alexeev Laureate of International
competition Vadim Selitsky Grigori Sedukh Nikolai Tkachenko Tatiana
Makarova Renata Bakhrakh Lia Melik-Muradian Konstantin
Rassokhin Ruslan Kozlov |
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Second violinsHonoured artist of Russia
Mikhail Estrin Arkadi Naiman Tatiana Shmeleva Arkadi
Malein Ludmila Odintsova Joanna Proskurova Lubov Khatina Anatoli
Babitsky Nikolai Dygodiuk Dmitri Koriavko Holder of All-Russian
competition diploma Tamara Tomskaya Olga Kotliarevskaya Konstantin
Basok Aexander Bulov I.Zolotarev
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Bass ClarinetVladislav Verkovich |
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ContrabassoonAlexei Silutin |
TrumpetsHonoured artist of Russia Igor
Sharapov Honoured artist of Russia Mikhail Romanov Oleg
Grechnev Alexei Belyaev |
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BassoonsHonoured artist of Russia Oleg
Talypin Holder of International competition diploma Sergei
Bazhenov Mikhail Karpinskyl |
TrombonesLaureate of All-Russian and
International competitions, Honoured artist of Russia Maxim
Ignatiev Laureate of the International competition Dmitri Andreev Laureate
of All-Russian and International competitions Vitali Gorlitsky Denis
Nesterov |
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HornsPeople‘s artist of Russia, Laureate of
International competition Andrei Glukhov Laureate of International
competition Igor Karzov Anatoli Surzhok Laureate of International
competition Anatoli Musarov Vitali Musarov Nikolai
Dubrovin |
CellosHonoured artist of Russia Sergei
Slovachevsky Honoured artist of Russia Nikolai Gerunyan Valeri
Naidenov Honoured artist of Russia Sergei Chernyadiev Taras
Trepel Laureate of All-Russian competition, Honoured artist of Russia
Iosif Levinzon Viktor Ivanov Holder of International competition
diploma Yaroslav Cherenkov Kyrill Arkhipov Nikolai
Matveev Alexander Kulibabin |
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ViolasHonoured artist of Russia Andrei
Dogadin Yuri Dmitriev Vladimir Ivanov Artur Kosinov Yuri
Anikeev Laureate of International competition Alexei Bogorad Laureate
of International competition Garik Meerovitch Elena Panfilova Dmitri
Kosolapov Konstantin Bytchkov Roman Ivanov Mikhail Anikeev Alexei
Koptev |
FlutesLaureate of International competition,
Honoured artist of Russia Marina Vorozhtsova Igor Kotov Olga
Viland Laureate of International competition Olesya
Tertichnaya |
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Timpani and PercussionHonoured artist of
Russia Sergei Antoshkin Valeri Znamensky Laureate of the
All-Russian competition Dmitri Klemenok Konstantin Soloviev Ruben
Ramazyan Honoured artist of Russia Alexander
Mikhailov |
English HornMikhail Dimsky |
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TubaValentin Avvakumov |
OboesRuslan Khokholkov Artem Isaev Pavel
Serebryakov |
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HarpsLaureate of International competition
Anna Makarova Andris Izmailov |
ClarinetsLaureate of the International
competition Andrei Laukhin Honoured artist of Russia Valentin
Karlov Denis Sukhov Igor Gerasimov |
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BassesArtem Chirkov Laureate of All-Union
competition, Honoured artist of Russia Alexander Schilo Laureate of All-Union
competition Rostislav Yakovlev Oleg Kyrillov Mikhail
Glazachev Nikolai Chausov Alexei Ivanov Alexei Chubachin Nikolai
Siray Arseni Petrov |
Piano and celestaMaxim Pankov |
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LibrarianLeonid Voronov |
Chief administrator Mikhail
Kunyavsky |
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DirectorLaureate of the international
competitions Ilia Teplyakov |
Schedule for Shostakovich. "Leningrad" Symphony 2022
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