Yurlov Russian State Academic Choir

Novaya Rossiya Symphony Orchestra

Conductor – Gennady Dmitryak

PROGRAM:

Purcell 

Vsenochnoye Bdeniye

Handel

Buxtehude

Franck

Faure

Britten 

Works for Choir and Organ

YURLOV RUSSIAN STATE ACADEMIC CHOIR

Founded in 1919 as the State Republican A Cappella Choir, The Yurlov State Academic Choir is one of the oldest and most respected choral ensembles in Russia. The ensemble gained international recognition in 1958, when Professor Alexander A.Yurlov, a People’s Artist of Russia, became its Artistic Director. Yurlov aspired to extend the range and repertoire of the chorus, as well as ground its performances on the centuries-old Russian choral tradition: pure and harmonious sound, huge sound range, and passionate interpretation.

During his 15-years as Artistic Director, Yurlov helped to bring many neglected Russian choral masterpieces of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries to an international audience; in recognition to his invaluable contribution, the ensemble assumed his name.

The Yurlov Academic Choir is noted for its performance of ancient Russian Orthodox chants, as well as Baroque and Classical choral polyphony by such native composers as Diletsky, Titov, Kalashnikov, Vedel, Beresovsky, and Bortnyansky—and particularly those working during the reign of Peter the Great (r. 1672-1726). The Yurlov Academic Choir was instrumental in reviving the lost treasures of Russian choral music tradition, and restoring them to the mainstream of Russian culture.

In 1981, the direction of the ensemble was passed to People’s Artist of Russia, Professor Stanislav Gusev. A graduate from the Moscow Conservatory, Gusev worked as a choral conductor with the Bolshoi Theater for ten years prior to joining the Yurlov Academic Choir.

Although the ensemble’s core repertoire remains the Russian spiritual music of the 16th-18th centuries, it also performs vocal and symphonic compositions by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, Liszt, Mahler, Schubert, Dvorak, and Britten, among many others. The ensemble has performed throughout Russia, and has made concert tours to Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Greece, Austria, and elsewhere. In 1992, the Choir participated in the prestigious Virtuosos of the World Festival in France.

The Yurlov Academic Choir has recorded more than twenty CDs, six of which have won international awards.

Novaya Rossiya Symphony Orchestra

New Russia State Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1990 by order of the Government of the RSFSR.
Yury Bashmet assumed leadership of the orchestra in 2002, opening up a new chapter in its history. Under Bashmet’s leadership, the orchestra acquired its own unique manner of playing, which is distinguished by creative freedom, audacious interpretations and startlingly inspired performances, all combined with a full, rich sound.
Many eminent musicians have collaborated with the orchestra, including Valery Gergiev, Emil Tabakov, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Alexander Lazarev, Saulius Sondeckis, David Stern, Luciano Acoccella, Teodor Curentzis, Barry Douglas, Peter Donohoe, Denis Matsuyev, Yelizaveta Leonskaya, Boris Berezovsky, Viktor Tretyakov, Gidon Kremer, Vadim Repin, Sergei Krylov, Viktoria Mullova, Nataliya Gutman, David Geringas, Sergei Antonov, Deborah Voight, Anna Netrebko, Laura Claycomb, Placido Domingo, Montserrat Caballe, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Patrizia Ciofi, Elina Garanca and Ulyana Lopatkina.
Since 2002, the orchestra has played more than 350 concerts in Russia and abroad, including in cities of the Volga region, the Golden Ring, the Urals, Siberia, the Moscow region, the Baltic States, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, as well as in France, Germany, Greece, Great Britain, Italy, Holland, Spain, Austria, Turkey, Bulgaria, India, Finland and Japan.
A varied repertoire, successfully combining classics and contemporary music, constantly attracts listeners. The orchestra has often given premieres of works by such composers as Sofia Gubaydulina, Alfred Schnittke, Edison Denisov, Mikhail Tariverdiyev, Nino Rota, Ghia Kancheli, Alexander Tchaikovsky, Bela Bartok, Giancarlo Menotti, Igor Raykhelson, Emil Tabakov, Alexander Baltin, Vladimir Belyaev, Vladimir Komarov, Boris Frankshteyn and Georgy Buzogly.
Since 2008, the orchestra has annually taken part in the Yury Bashmet Winter Music Festival in Sochi and the Yury Bashmet International Festivals in Yaroslavl and Minsk.