Inauguration Concert - Morozov Exhibition

The excellence of the orchestra was recognised on numerous occasions by the world-class musicians who conducted it, among them Berlioz, Wagner, von Bülow, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Nikisch and Rachmaninoff. In Soviet times, the ensemble’s illustrious traditions were continued by conductors such as Vladimir Dranishnikov, Ariy Pazovsky, Yevgeny Mravinsky, Konstantin Simeonov and Yuri Temirkanov.

The orchestra has had the honour of being the first to perform many operas and ballets by Tchaikovsky, operas by Glinka, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov and ballets by Shostakovich, Khachaturian and Asafiev.

Since 1988, the orchestra has been directed by Valery Gergiev, a musician of the highest order and an outstanding figure in the music world. Maestro Gergiev’s arrival at the helm ushered in a new era of rapid expansion of the orchestra’s repertoire, which today includes every symphony by Beethoven, Mahler, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, Requiems by Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, Brahms and Tishchenko and various works by composers such as Stravinsky, Messiaen, Dutilleux, Henze, Shchedrin, Gubaidulina, Kancheli and Karetnikov. The orchestra performs programmes of symphony music at prestigious concert venues throughout the world.

With the arrival of Valery Gergiev at the helm, it became a tradition to hold major thematic festivals marking various anniversaries of composers. In 1989 there was a festival marking one hundred and fifty years of Modest Musorgsky, in 1990 there was one commemorating one hundred and fifty years of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, in 1991 there was another marking one hundred years of Sergei Prokofiev and in 1994 there was another marking one hundred and fifty years of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. These festivals saw performances not only of well-known scores but also of rarely performed pieces or works that had never been staged before at all. The tradition of anniversary festivals has continued in the 21st century with a celebration of one hundred years of Dmitry Shostakovich in 2006, another marking one hundred and seventy-five years of Pyotr Tchaikovsky in 2015 and a third marking one hundred and twenty-five years of Sergei Prokofiev in 2016. 

The Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev has scaled new heights, assimilating not just opera and ballet scores, but also an expansive symphony music repertoire – every symphony by Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Sibelius, Prokofiev and Shostakovich and works by Berlioz, Bruckner, Rimsky-Korsakov, Richard Strauss, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Messiaen, Dutilleux, Ustvolskaya, Shchedrin, Kancheli and other composers. Under the direction of Valery Gergiev the Mariinsky Theatre has become a major theatre and concert complex, without par anywhere in the world.

Valery Gergiev's international activities are no less intensive and active. Having made debuts in 1992 at the Bayerishe Staatsoper (Musorgsky's Boris Godunov), in 1993 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin) and in 1994 at the Metropolitan Opera (Verdi's Otello with Plácido Domingo in the title role), the maestro successfully continues to collaborate with the world's great opera houses. He works with the World Orchestra for Peace (which he has directed since 1997 following the death of the ensemble's founder Sir Georg Solti), the Philharmonic Orchestras of Berlin, Paris, Vienna, New York and Los Angeles, the Symphony Orchestras of Chicago, Cleveland, Boston and San Francisco, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Amsterdam) and many other ensembles. 

Valery Gergiev is the founder and director of prestigious international festivals including the Stars of the White Nights (since 1993), the Moscow Easter Festival (since 2002), the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam, the Mikkeli Festival and the 360 Degreesfestival in Munich. Since 2011 he has directed the organisational committee of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. Valery Gergiev focuses much of his attention on working with young musicians. One of his initiatives saw the revival of the All-Russian Choral Society; this includes the Children's Chorus of Russia, which has appeared at the Mariinsky-II, the Bolshoi Theatre and at the closing ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympics in Sochi. Since 2013 the maestro has directed the National Youth Orchestra of the USA and regularly appears with the youth orchestras of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Verbier Festival and the Pacific Ocean Music Festival in Sapporo. Since 2015 the Mariinsky Theatre has run the Mariinsky NEXT annual festival, which features children's and youth orchestras of St Petersburg. 

Gergiev’s artistic achievements have brought him numerous titles and awards. These include the title of People’s Artist of Russia (1996), three State Prizes of Russia (1993, 1998 and 2015), the Order of Alexander Nevsky (2016), government awards from Germany (Cross of the First Class “For Services”), Italy (Grand’ufficiale dell’Ordine al merito), France (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres), the Netherlands (Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion), Japan (Order of the Rising Sun), the honorary title of UNESCO Artist of the World, the Swedish Royal Academy of Music’s Polar Music Prize and Europe’s Glashütte Original Music Festival Prize in 2010 for his support of talented young musicians. That same year, Gergiev was elected Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the St Petersburg State University. He also joined the Council for Culture and the Arts of the Russian President and headed the organisational committee of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. In November 2011 France’s respected Classica magazine named him “Artist of the Year”. In 2012 he was awarded the titles of Honorary Doctor of the Moscow State University and Honorary Professor of the St Petersburg Conservatoire, while one year before that the maestro became Honorary President of the Edinburgh International Festival. On 1 May 2013 Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded maestro Gergiev the first title of Hero of Labour of Russia.

He works with the world’s greatest conductors, such as Semyon Bychkov, Valery Gergiev, Neeme Järvi, Klaus Mäkelä, Andris Nelsons, Vasily Petrenko, Lahav Shani, Tugan Sokhiev, Leonard Slatkin, Nathalie Stutzmann, Robin Ticciati, Krzysztof Urbański and Lorenzo Viotti.

Mr Lozakovich opened the 2022/23 season with his debut appearance at the BBC Proms. He was the season’s Artist in Residence with Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, performing concertos and recitals across the season. That season also included a concert with Oslo Philharmonic under Klaus Mäkelä, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg.

As a touring artist, he has performed in Japan and Asia with Valery Gergiev, and with the hr-Sinfonieorchester under Andrés Orozco-Estrada. In spring 2022, he made his debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra.

At age 15, Mr Lozakovich signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon and, in 2018, released his debut album of Bach’s two violin concertos, together with the Solo Partita No.2. The album reached number one in the all-music category of the French Amazon charts and the classical album charts in Germany. None but the Lonely Heart, Mr Lozakovich’s second album, devoted to Tchaikovsky, was released in October 2019. The young prodigy’s third album, released in 2020, focuses on Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, recorded live with Münchner Philharmoniker under Valery Gergiev, and released as an audio album and video in the year of the composer’s 250th birthday.

He plays the “ex-Baron Rothschild” Stradivarius, generously loaned on behalf of the owner by Reuning & Son, Boston, and Eduard Wulfso. He also plays the “Le Reynier” Stradivarius (1727), generously loaned by LVMH / MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON.

Mr Kantorow began performing professionally at an early age, making his debut at the La Folle Journée festival in Nantes at just 16 years of age. Since then, he has played with many of the world’s major orchestras, including regular appearances with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev. Highlights in the coming season include concerts with the Orchestre de Paris, Staatskappelle Berlin, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, as well as tours with the Orchestre National de Toulouse, Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic.

He has performed solo recitals at major concert halls across Europe, such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in their Master Pianists series, the Konzerthaus Berlin, Philharmonie de Paris, BOZAR in Brussels and Stockholm Konserthus. He has also appeared at some of the most prestigious festivals, including La Roque d’Anthéron, Piano aux Jacobins, the Verbier Festival and Klavierfest Ruhr. Chamber music is another of his great pleasures and he regularly performs with Victor Julien-Laferrière, Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Lozakovich and Matthias Goerne.

Mr Kantorow records exclusively with BIS. His most recent recording (solo works by Brahms) received the 2022 Diapason d’Or. His two previous recordings (Saint-Saëns concerti 3-5 and solo works by Brahms, Bartok and Liszt) each received the Diapason d’Or and Choc Classica of the Year in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The solo disc was Gramophone magazine’s Editor’s Choice, his performance described as “a further remarkable example of his virtuosity and artistry, showing both skill and sensitivity throughout”. His earlier recital recordings, entitled à la Russe, also won numerous awards and distinctions, including the 2017 Choc de l’Année (Classica), Diapason découverte (Diapason), Supersonic (Pizzicata) and CD des Doppelmonats (PianoNews).

Mr Kantorow is a laureate of the Safran Foundation and Banque Populaire, and, in 2019, was named “Musical Revelation of the Year” by the Professional Critics Association. In 2020, he won France’s Victoires de la Musique Classique in two categories: Recording of the Year and Instrumental Soloist of the Year.

Born in France of Franco-British heritage, he has studied with Pierre-Alain Volondat, Igor Lazko, Frank Braley and Rena Shereshevskaya.