Russian State Symphony Orchestra

The Russian State Symphony Orchestra is one of Russia's leading orchestras. The group dates back to the first decades of the Soviet Union's existence. The orchestra has been among the most visible Russian orchestras in the West, frequently touring during outward-facing phases in Soviet and Russian history. The group has a large recording catalog on both Russian and Western labels, including the 2024 release of a 1995 recording featuring pianist Nikolai Lugansky in a pair of Rachmaninov piano concertos. The Russian State Symphony Orchestra is also known as the State Academic Symphony Orchestra "Evgeny Svetlanov"; the term "Academic" in the name is honorific. It was founded as the USSR State Symphony Orchestra in 1936, with Alexander Gauk as its first conductor; its direct ancestors were a pair of Soviet radio orchestras founded in the early 1930s. The group fulfilled its responsibilities as a national group with a tour of the Soviet Union the following year. Gauk remained in his post until 1941 and was succeeded by Nathan Rakhlin (1941-1945) and Konstantin Ivanov (1946-1965). The group often performs at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory as well as other venues among Moscow's collection of magnificent concert halls. The orchestra made its first tour abroad during the "thaw" of the late '50s and early '60s, making its U.S. debut in 1960. A turning point in the existence of the Russian State Symphony Orchestra came with the appointment as chief conductor of Evgeny Svetlanov in 1965. Svetlanov made an impact with a fiery recording of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps and Petrouchka in 1966, marking quite a contrast from the group's earlier orientation toward conservative socialist-realist fare. That album remains in print, having been reissued in the West by Warner Classics in 2007. Svetlanov became an internationally celebrated conductor, amassing a large recording catalog (including, in the '90s, a massive 100-CD survey of Russian symphonic music) and often touring, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union. He was, in fact, fired in 2000 after charges that he was devoting too much energy to work abroad. Svetlanov was succeeded by Vassily Sinaisky (2000-2003) and Mark Gorenstein (2002-2011). Conductors Vladimir Jurowski (2011-2021) and Vasily Petrenko (2021-2022) managed to combine their duties with posts abroad; Petrenko departed after protesting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The orchestra's artistic director as of late August 2024 was Philipp Chizhevsky (Chizhevskiy). The orchestra has continued to record prolifically, not only for the government-owned Melodiya label in Russia but also for such Western labels as Delos, Toccata Classics, and PentaTone. In the 2020s, the group has not been heard abroad on new recordings, but in 2024, a 1995 recording of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 30, and Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 40, with pianist Nikolai Lugansky, was reissued by the Fineline label. ~ James Manheim, Rovi