Russia's Most Persuasive Ambassador
The Moscow-based Russian National Orchestra is currently performing in various U.S. cities, with great success.
Mikhail Pletnev is an outstanding conductor, pianist and composer. And it was he who founded the orchestra which, through 15 years of persistent work and triumphant appearances in various countries, has become a favorite of music-specialists and music-lovers. The Washington Times called it "one of the most persuasive ambassadors of Russia's new age." It is the first Russian orchestra to receive the prestigious Grammy Award and to appear at the Vatican...
The orchestra's musical tour in America began in New York at the famous Lincoln Center, as a part of a Tchaikovsky festival. It performed the great Russian composer's theatrical works, based on Shakespeare's Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. The thirty-year-old musician Vladimir Jurowski conducted.
"I have been in the US many times as a conductor of both operas and symphonies. I conducted at the Metropolitan Opera, traveled to different cities with American orchestras — to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles. But this is the first time I have been in America with a non-American group."
The maestro is often called a "young Russian star," and is compared to Yevgeny Mravinsky and Carlos Kleiber. He is a graduate of the musical school affiliated with the Moscow Conservatory, and he has also studied music in Germany, where he moved in 1990. He now lives in Berlin and London and is the artistic director of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He has won the Abbiati prize for "Best Conductor of 2000," and is on a list of the most talented young conductors in the world. He has collaborated with the Russian orchestra for four years and is a member of its Conductor Collegium.
In response to a request to comment about himself, his family, and his musical roots, Vladimir answers: "I am married and I have an 11-year-old daughter. Our family is definitely musical, with very deep roots. Whom should I begin with? Probably with my great-grandfather — he was a conductor and composer. His name was David Block. In his 20s, he founded the USSR Cinematographic Orchestra. And my grandfather — my namesake — Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski, was a composer. Probably the most famous of his works was the ballet "Scarlet Sails," by Alexander Grin. It was written during the war and performed in Kuibyshev in 1942, when the Bolshoi Theater was located there during the evacuation. It later ran for 14 years on that theater's stage. He is probably still remembered through his music in Soviet film musicals like "Bewitched Boy," "The Golden Antelope," and "Steamship from Romashko." My father was a conductor. For many years he was the conductor of the Stanislavsky Theater. So the dynasty continues."
The concert held at George Mason University's Center for the Arts evoked great interest from among the cultural elite of greater Washington. According to Vladimir, the program, which is the result of his own ruminations on Tchaikovsky, offers a view of the composer's work from the perspective of the 21st century, at how his music influenced the works of Stravinsky, Dyagilev and Balanchine.
From the moment of the RNO's founding, the familiar word "state" has been lacking from its name. To this day, it is financed through private contributions. The CEO of the RNO, Sergei Markov, pointed out that, over the past few years, the Russian government has increasingly supported the orchestra. As an example, he cited a $300,000 grant recently received to finance the orchestra's traditional "Volga River Tour," in which the orchestra travels on a boat with music lovers from all over the world.
Among future projects Sergei Markov has arranged is a musical evening in memory of the well-known American journalist and commentator of Russian descent, Paul Klebnikov, who was murdered two years ago in Moscow.
"We want Paul to be remembered not for the list of the 100 wealthiest Russians which he published in Forbes (Klebnikov ran the Russian edition of the magazine), but for the powerful ideas for which he lived and died. The first concert we will dedicate to him will be in Saratov. There will also be a concert in Moscow, which the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has promised to attend. We look forward to his appearance."
The Russian National Orchestra is scheduled to visit seventeen US cities. After Virginia, it will perform in South Carolina, Florida, California and Nevada. The tour will conclude in Seattle, Washington.