4 Seasons of Manhattan
RUSSIAN NATIONAL
ORCHESTRA
ORCHESTRA
Dubai, UAE
When Camille Saint-Saëns wrote his ‘Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso’ at not even 30 years of age, Jacques Offenbach, the unquestioned master of Parisian opéra-bouffe, was enjoying one of the greatest successes of his career with ‘La belle Hélène’. The sparkling elegance and joie de vivre of the Belle Époque were already showing on the horizon and Saint-Saëns wrote a typically French piece of music, full of sensitive elegance, the distinct parfum of the Parisian salons and grandiose virtuosity.
Alexey Shor’s composition ‘Four Seasons of Manhattan’ is a very personal approach to the change of seasons in the American metropolis. Although the title might suggest something to the contrary, it does not explicitly cite US-American music, and, in fact, is far more closely related to Antonio Vivaldi’s famous baroque concertos, ‘I Quattro Stagioni’ (‘The Four Seasons’) than to Ástor Piazzolla’s ‘Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas’, that evoke a distinct local imagery with their tango-influences. A violinist of vibrant energy, impeccable taste and rich sound, Sergey Dogadin has been awarded with multiple prizes, and was invited to perform under the baton of conductors such as Vasily Petrenko, Valery Gergiev and Vladimir Ashkenazy. As the soloist in Camille Saint-Saëns’s ‘Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso’, as well as in Alexey Shor’s ‘Four Seasons of Manhattan’, Dogadin has the opportunity to showcase his breathtaking technique and virtuosic style.
The change of seasons also inspired Alexander Glazunov to write his ballet of the same name for Marius Petipa. From 1847 the famous French choreographer lived in Russia, there creating the academic style that we know as classical ballet today, and laying the foundation for the Russian ballet school. Glazunov’s and Petipa’s creation did not display a concrete plot. Nevertheless, it is very easy to follow the highly descriptive music that evokes images through the colourful delicacy and sublime orchestration that is typical of Glazunov’s style. Frost, ice, hail and snow are as vividly portrayed as the flower fairies of spring, the summerly waltz of the cornflowers, an autumn bacchanal and the final apotheosis, showing the earth surrounded by the stars, indicating the change of seasons and the passing of time.
Pianist, conductor, and composer, Mikhail Pletnev is one of the most respected and influential artists of the era. His prodigious talent as a pianist has earned widespread acclaim ever since the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, where he won First Prize at the age of 21. An invitation to perform at a 1988 diplomatic summit in Washington led to Pletnev’s friendship with Mikhail Gorbachev and a lifelong commitment to dismantling barriers through the universal language of music.
In 1990, Pletnev formed the Russian National Orchestra – the first independent orchestra in Russia’s history. Under his leadership, the RNO achieved recognition as one of the world’s great orchestras.
Over thirty years later, Pletnev has renewed his commitment to artistic freedom with his founding of the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra, named after the celebrated pianist, conductor, and composer whose own career inspired audiences from all corners of the globe.
Pletnev’s performances and recordings have shown him to be an outstanding interpreter of an extensive repertoire, both as a pianist and conductor. His recordings have earned numerous prizes, including a 2005 Grammy Award for his own arrangement of Prokofiev’s Cinderella. He received Grammy nominations for Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes (2004) and the Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev Piano Concertos No. 3 (2003). His critically acclaimed album of Scarlatti’s Sonatas (Virgin/ EMI) received a 1996 Gramophone Award, and his recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos (Deutsche Grammophon) was named “Best of 2007” by the NewYorker.
Pianist, conductor, composer, and cultural leader – all are significant facets of Mikhail Pletnev’s remarkable life. Yet with his characteristic humility, he insists that he is, simply, a musician.
After bright successes at the most precious violin competitions Sergei Dogadin acquired international fame as one of the best violinist of his generation.
In 2019 Sergei was awarded First Prize and Golden Medal at the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Among his other significant victories such major contents as IX Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hannover and Singapore International Violin Competition.
Sergei is the grant-holder of the Russian Ministry of Culture, Prize-winner of the Mozart Society in Dortmund (Germany), winner of the award established by Maestro Yuri Temirkanov and winner of the Prize of the President of Russia.
Since making his major debut in 2002 at the Grand Hall of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonie under the button of Vasily Petrenko and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic orchestra, Dogadin has performed on world’s most renowned venues such as Golden Hall of the "Musikverein" in Vienna, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Cologne Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, "Herkules-saal" and "Gasteig" in Munich, "Liederhalle" in Stuttgart, "Concertgebouw" and "Muziekgebouw" in Amsterdam, "Suntory Hall" in Tokyo, Symphony Hall in Osaka, Concert Hall "Kitara" in Sapporo, "Esplanade" Concert Hall in Singapore, "Festspielhaus" in Baden-Baden, Grand Theatre and Symphony Hall in Shanghai, "Auditorio Nacional" and "Palacio de Congresos" in Madrid, "Alte Oper" in Frankfurt, "Tonhalle" in Zurich and Dusseldorf, "Tivoli concert hall" in Copenhagen, Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, "Berwaldhallen" in Stockholm, collaborated together with London Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Frankfurter Museum Orchestra, Nordic Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, "Kremerata Baltica" Chamber Orchestra, Munich Kammerorchester, Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, "Bruno Walter" Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Polish Chamber Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestras of Estonia and Latvia, State Symphony Orchestra of Russia as well as other foreign and Russian orchestras.
Many of Dogadin’s performances have been broadcasted worldwide - on Mezzo classic (France), «Medici.tv», European Broadcasting Union (EBU), BR Klassic, WDR and NDR Kultur (Germany), YLE Radio (Finland), NHK (Japan), BBC (UK), Australian Radio, Polish Radio, Estonian and Latvian Radio.
Sergei has taken part in festivals «Stars of the White Nights», «Musical collection», «Musical Olympus», «Arts Square», «Crescendo», Trans-Siberian Art Festival, Mstislav Rostropovich festival, George Enescu festival, Tivoli festival, Herbstfestspiele Baden- Baden, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, «Festival International de Colmar», Oleg Kagan Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, «Vladimir Spivakov Invites», «Chopin and his Europe», Baltic Sea Festival, «Vivarte», Singapore Violin Festival etc.
He has collaborated with such prominent conductors as Yury Temirkanov, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazi, Vassily Sinaisky, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Bashmet, Yuri Simonov, Manfred Honeck, Andrew Manze, Shlomo Mintz, Aldo Ceccato, Thomas Sanderling, Vasily Petrenko, Anu Tali, Muhai Tang, Ken Takaseki, Dmitry Liss, Alexander Sladkovsky, Alexander Dmitriev, Nikolay Alekseev, Saulus Sondeckis, Michail Tatarnikov, Alexander Rudin, Nicholas Carter, Ken-David Mazur, Kevin Griffiths, Fabio Mastrangelo, Michał Nesterowicz, Jack Martin Haendler and many others.
Sharing the stage with an outstanding musicians is an important part of Sergei's concert life. Among his partners: Elisabeth Leonskaja, Viktor Tretiakov, David Geringas, Boris Kuschnir, Denis Matsuev, Daniil Trifonov, Pierre Amoyal, Alexander Kniazev, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Maxim Rysanov, Plamena Mangova, Nikolai Tokarev, Tatiana Vasileva, Dimitri Illarionov, Vadim Holodenko, Julian Milkis, Alexei Ogrintchouk, Boris Andrianov, Lars Anders Tomter, Gil Shohat, Anna Vinnitskaya and others.
Dogadin had studied in the most famous and significant musical institutions: at the St.Petersburg Conservatory (with Prof. Vladimir Ovcharek), at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad (with Prof. Maxim Vengerov), at the High School of Music in Cologne (with Prof. Mihaela Martin) and at the University of Music in Graz (with Prof. Boris Kuschnir).
Currently, Sergei improves his skills with Prof. Boris Kuschnir at the Music and Arts University in Vienna.
In 2008 he has released his first CD album on the «Solo Musica» label (Munich, Germany), including the compositions by Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergey Rachmaninov, Sergey Prokofiev and Alexander Rosenblatt.
The 2017/2018 season brought the release of two CD albums:
- Shostakovich - Violin concerto № 1 with the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan under the direction of Maestro A. Sladkovsky, («Melody» label); - Shostakovich - Sonata for violin and piano and his 24 preludes (arrangement for violin and piano by D.Tsyganov/L.Auerbach), («Naxos» label).
Since 2017 Sergei Dogadin is a guest professor at the Liangzhu International Arts Academy (China) and the Gracias Music Academy at the School of Mahanaim (USA). At the same time he constantly gives masterclasses in South Korea, Singapore, Latvia and Azerbaijan.
Sergei was invited as a jury member at the 4th Yankelevitch International Violin Competition and Vladimir Spivakov International Violin Competition.
Sergei Dogadin had enjoyed the honor of performing during several festivals on Niccolo Paganini’s and Johann Strauss’s violins.
At the moment he plays the Domenico Montagnana violin (Venice, 1721) provided by "The Rin Collection" (Singapore).
The Russian National Orchestra was founded in 1990 by pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev. Of its debut at the BBC Proms in London, the Evening Standard wrote, 'They played with such captivating beauty that the audience gave an involuntary sigh of pleasure.' The RNO has been described as 'a living symbol of the best in Russian art' (Miami Herald) and 'as close to perfect as one could hope for' (Trinity Mirror).
Maintaining an active international schedule, the RNO appears in the music capitals of Europe, Asia and the Americas, is a frequent guest at festivals such as Edinburgh, the BBC Proms and Festival Napa Valley, and presents the RNO Grand Festival each September to open the Moscow season.
RNO concerts are often aired on National Public Radio, the European Broadcasting Union, and Russia’s Kultura channel. Their discography, launched with a highly praised 1991 recording of Tchaikovsky's Pathétique, now numbers more than 80 critically acclaimed recordings. Notable releases include the complete Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos on Deutsche Grammophon, Tchaikovsky’s six symphonies for Pentatone, and the RNO Shostakovich project, also on Pentatone, cited as “the most exciting cycle of the Shostakovich symphonies to be put down on disc, and easily the best recorded” (SACD.net).
Their recording of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Beintus' Wolf Tracks, conducted by Kent Nagano and narrated by Sophia Loren, Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev, received a 2004 Grammy Award, making the RNO the first Russian orchestra to win the recording industry's highest honor. Their recording of Shostakovich Symphony No. 7, conducted by Paavo Järvi, was awarded the Diapason d’Or de l’Année 2015 as the year's best symphonic album, and was nominated for a 2016 Grammy Award.
