Heroes’ Triumph
RUSSIAN NATIONAL
ORCHESTRA
ORCHESTRA
Dubai, UAE
Apart from his monumental operatic dramas, Richard Wagner only wrote a small number of works. Amongst them is a true gift of love: the ‘Siegfried Idyll’. Wagner composed this orchestral piece as a birthday present for his wife, Cosima, after she had given birth to their son, Siegfried. The first time the composition was performed it was presented as a surprise, in the staircase of Richard and Cosima Wagner’s home. The truly idyllic music shows parallels to Wagner’s opera ‘Siegfried’, and seems to breathe the intimacy of the couple’s close relationship. Knowing this, it is understandable that Cosima refused a publication of the score for a long time. Ever since Wagner’s symphonic poem was presented to a broader audience, however, it has been one of his most beloved compositions, and is appreciated even by those who are not particularly fond of his full-length operas.
Maestro Sergey Smbatyan and the Russian National Orchestra follow up Wagner’s ‘Siegfried Idyll’ with Alexey Shor’s Cello Concerto in F Major, performed by Alexander Knyazev. The second movement of the concerto, in particular, is full of romantic longing and features melodic lines that would be unthinkable without the influence of Richard Wagner. Shor additionally draws inspiration from neo-classical composers such as Johannes Brahms, a contemporary and antagonist of Richard Wagner. Interestingly, this concerto was premièred earlier this year by the same performers taking to the stage for this concert in Dubai.
Another example of Shor’s imaginative style and descriptive eloquence is his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra “From my Bookshelf” — a series of eight musical portraits describing some of the composer’s favourite literary figures, among them Cinderella, Don Quixote (‘The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha’, Miguel de Cervantes), Tom Sawyer (‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’, Mark Twain), Quasimodo (‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’, Victor Hugo), the Queen of Hearts (‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, Lewis Carroll) and Romeo and Juliet from the play of the same name by William Shakespeare. The solo part In this highly descriptive and cheerful concerto is entrusted to Mikhail Pletnev, who has specially edited Shor’s score for this performance.
Alexander Knyazev
Mikhail Pletnev
Sergey Smbatyan is the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Conductor of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. An avid popularizer of classical music, the conductor has an extensive international engagement, and is committed to rejuvenating the classical music audiences and the promotion of contemporary classical music globally.
Born into a family of musicians, Sergey Smbatyan took his first steps in the world of classical music under the guidance of her grandmother Tatyana Hayrapetyan, a distinguished violin teacher, followed by his education at Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan and Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
Subsequently, in 2012, he furthered his academic journey at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under Sir Colin Davis. His studies under the guidance of Riccardo Muti and Valery Gergiev significantly influenced and enhanced his proficiency in conducting.
Sergey Smbatyan's conducting career was highlighted by his debut performance with the London Symphony Orchestra at Windsor Castle, under the auspices of Prince Charles, now HRH Charles III. The impressive success of this concert led to a subsequent invitation, where he conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra at Buckingham Palace.
Sergey Smbatyan's extensive international involvement as a conductor and his distinctive appreciation for contemporary classical music has led to a wide array of collaborations with globally acclaimed composers, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Tigran Mansuryan, Arvo Pärt, Gia Kancheli, and many others. Among such notable endeavors were the large-scale projects conducted with John Malkovich in several countries of Latin America and Asia. Led by Sergey Smbatyan and accompanied by the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, the iconic Hollywood artist delivered a unique musical performance in Yerevan, presenting a reading of excerpts from “The Book of Lamentations” by the medieval Armenian poet Grigor Narekatsi.
The conductor serves as the artistic director of a number of annual music festivals, as well as the Khachaturian International Competition, to which the category of conducting was introduced through Sergey Smbatyan's initiative. Among the festivals founded by Sergey Smbatyan are the Khachaturian International Festival, which aims to uphold the legacy of Aram Khachaturian and other famous Armenian composers, the "Armenia" International Music Festival, which hosts world-renowned virtuoso musicians to perform in Armenia, the Penderecki Contemporary Music Festival, which showcases the works of contemporary legendary composers, and others.
Sergey Smbatyan is the founder of the "Music for Future Foundation (M4FF)”, which is committed to discovering young talented musicians and fostering their career advancement.
He strives to champion innovative approaches in the classical music industry, consistently seeking creative ideas and solutions in implementing various projects. During the opening ceremony of "WCIT 2019," the largest IT Congress for innovators and entrepreneurs, hosted in Armenia, an international orchestra performed an AI real-time-composed musical piece under the direction of Sergey Smbatyan.
Sergey Smbatyan releases recordings with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra on their own "ArmSymphony Records" label and is actively involved in recording contemporary classical music with the London Symphony Orchestra and other orchestras. His recent engagements include the album of spiritual music "Ave Maria" recorded with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and the world-renowned tenor Joseph Calleja, released under the "DECCA Records" label, the album “Aznavouriana” by Deutsche Grammophon with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and cellist Camille Thomas in commemoration of French-Armenian singer and composer Charles Aznavour’s 100th anniversary.
In recent concert seasons, Sergey Smbatyan has served as a guest conductor with leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, and many others.
As the conductor of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Sergey Smbatyan embarked on numerous concert tours and performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Munich’s Gasteig , Vienna’s Musikverein, the Berliner Philharmonie, and other renowned concert halls.
In 2023, he led the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra on a grand UK tour, dedicated to Aram Khachaturian’s 120th anniversary and in 2024 on the orchestra’s debut tour in the United States with the performances at Boston’s Symphony Hall, New York City’s Carnegie Hall, and Los Angeles Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Highlights of 2024/25 season include concerts with the Madrid Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra, the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra as well as performances at Salle Gaveau and the Cité de la Musique of the Paris Philharmonie with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra featuring French and Armenian composers.
Up until the 2024/25 season, Sergey Smbatyan will be Principal Guest Conductor of Berlin Symphony.
Sergey Smbatyan holds the title of Honoured Artist of the Republic of Armenia and the title of “Chevalier of Arts and Letters” of France.
Sergey Smbatyan was appointed as a UNICEF National Ambassador in 2023.
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.
One of the most powerful and enigmatic cellists, Alexander Knyazev was born in 1961 in Moscow. He started to study cello at the age of six with A.Fedorchenko and graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire in 1986. He was prize-winner of the National Competition (Vilnius), Cassado International Competition (Florence), Chamber Music International Competition in Trapani (Italy, in the ensemble with E. Voskressenskaya), Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, UNISA International Competition in Pretoria (South Afrika).
He played with such world-famous conductors as E.Svetlanov, Y.Temirkanov, K.Mazur, M.Rostropovich, V.Fedoseev, M.Pletnev, Y.Bashmet, P.Steinberg and others. He performed with orchestras as London Royal Philharmonic and BBC orchestra (London), Bavarian Radio Symphony orchestra, Baltimore Symphony orchestra, Tokyo Symphony (Japan), Wiener Symphoniker,”Orchestral de Paris” and Orchestra National de France, State Academic Symphony orchestra of Russia, ”Moscow Soloists” etc.
His partners are great pianists - E.Kissin, N.Lugansky, B.Berezovsky, E.Leonskaya, D.Matsuev, B.Engerer; violinists - V.Tretyakov, V.Repin, V.Spivakov; violist - Y.Bashmet; organists - G.Guillou, E.Oganessian and others.
Three times, in 1998, 2002 and 2015 he was member of the Jury at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow.
Knyazev performed in such world-famous halls as Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall (London), Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Louver auditorium and Salle Pleyel (Paris), Musikverein and Konzerthaus (Vienna), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Mozarteum in Salzburg, Rudolfinum (Prague), Auditorium di Milano (Italy), Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels).
Alexander Knyazev is a multi-instrumentalist. As an organist, he goes on tour extensively in Russia and Europe, performing solo programs and works for organ and orchestra. In 2015 he performed for the first time in Moscow as a pianist and now actively continues to play the piano, combining this with playing the organ and cello.
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.
