Lyrical beauty
RUSSIAN NATIONAL
ORCHESTRA
ORCHESTRA
Dubai, UAE
Joseph Haydn’s operatic oeuvre was ignored for decades. Although Haydn’s huge impact on the ideals of the ‘First Viennese School’ was generally acknowledged, his operas were scarcely performed. In his final years, however, interest in Haydn’s operas has been growing, with ‘Armida’ — his last and most successful opera — influenced by Christoph Willibald Gluck’s operatic reforms. The overture is a dramatic masterpiece, introducing the audience to the plot inspired by Torquato Tasso’s poem ‘Gerusalemme liberata’.
It is generally hard to understand how it is possible that Mozart, whose operas were always praised as central pieces of the repertoire, was capable of writing music of such quality under the pressure of his agitated life. It is even harder to understand, while listening to the ‘Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 20’, a work that marked a significant step in the development of the genre and is considered to be the first “symphonic” concerto that Mozart wrote. Only one day after finishing the composition, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart premièred his concerto in Vienna. As one of the most important pianists of his time, he played the solo part himself. Like Mozart, Kit Armstrong started his career as a child prodigy at a very early age. The young American pianist is a renowned interpreter of Mozart’s Sonatas and was acclaimed as ‘Artiste étoile at the Würzburger Mozartfest’ in 2016.
Sergey Smbatyan concludes the evening with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s ‘Symphonic Dances’, a work written on Long Island. The composer, who had a tendency to extreme self-criticism and repeatedly changed details of his music, considered it his best work. As his last major composition, the ‘Symphonic Dances’ can be seen as a summary of his life###while the first movement, recalling Sergei Rachmaninoff’s unfortunate Symphony No. 1, evokes the composer’s Russian home country, the second movement can be understood as a reflection of the troubling times that culminated in the Soviet dictatorship. The third movement, quoting both the ‘Dies Irae’ and the chant ‘Blessed art Thou, Lord’ from Rachmaninoff’s ‘All-Night Vigil’, has been interpreted as the composer’s farewell to life.
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.
Few musicians epitomize the term of the ‘exceptional artist’ better than Kit Armstrong. Born in 1992 in Los Angeles, he is described as “the amazement-causing artist who can only be described as a musical phenomenon” by German magazine Süddeutsche Zeitung. With 27 years he not only demonstrates extraordinary aptitude at the piano but also at the organ, at the conductor’s desk as well as being a composer in great demand. Since earliest youth Armstrong fascinates the audience in major international venues such as Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, NHK Hall Tokyo, and Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels.
Armstrong collaborates with many of the world’s most sought-after conductors including Christian Thielemann, Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly, Kent Nagano, Manfred Honeck, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mario Venzago, and Thomas Dausgaard. He has been a guest at some of the world’s finest orchestras, among them the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. In Summer 2018 Kit Armstrong was artist-in-residence at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and has been appointed as “Artist-in-Resonance” by the Musikkollegium Winterthur. In the same year he received the Beethoven-Ring by the German society “Bürger für Beethoven” following the footsteps of Igor Levit, Gustavo Dudamel, and Lisa Batiashvili.
Highlights of season 2019/20 include concerts with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. He will tour with the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra in Europe. Piano recitals will bring him to the Vienna Concert Hall, Lincoln Centre in New York, Rheingau Music Festival, Munich Prinzregententheater, Piano Festival Ruhr, and Schubertiade Hohenems among others. Engagements as organist include concerts at the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Konzerthaus, and at the Bruckner Festival Linz. He gave his acclaimed debut as conductor at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival in 2018 with an outstanding rendition of Händel’s oratorio Theodora. In 2020 he will be a guest conductor with the Bochumer Symphoniker.
Being a passionate chamber musician Kit Armstrong works regularly with other leading instrumentalists and singers such as Renaud Capuҫon, Daniel Müller-Schott, Quatuor Ebène, Armida Quartett, Christiane Karg, and Julian Prégardien. As an organist he appeared in recitals at the Berlin Philharmonie, Mosel Musikfestival, and the Cologne Philharmonie. The versatile artist established a great reputation with his compositions which are published by Edition Peters. Commissioners include the Gewandhaus Leipzig, Schubertiade Hohenems, BASF Ludwigshafen, Dortmund Concert Hall and the Musikkollegium Winterthur. His debut recording with works by Bach, Ligeti and Armstrong was released in September 2013 by Sony Classical as “one of the very few CDs that the world was waiting for” (Kulturradio RBB). His second album Symphonic Scenes was released 2015 by Sony Classical and received enthusiastic reviews for his interpretation of an exceptional program of piano works primarily composed for orchestra by Liszt.
Kit Armstrong studied music at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and continued and finished his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. At age of seven, he started studying composition at Chapman University and physics at California State University, later also chemistry and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and mathematics at the Imperial College London. He earned a master’s degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI. At the age of thirteen, Armstrong met Alfred Brendel who has guided him as a teacher and mentor ever since. Their unique relationship was captured in the film Set the Piano Stool on Fire by Mark Kidel. Today Armstrong resides in Vienna nearby Salzburg as well as in the former church Sainte-Thérèse-de- l’Enfant-Jésus in the French city of Hirson, organizing concerts on a regular basis.
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.
