Tchaikovsky Selections Russian National Orchestra & Mikhail Pletnev

• 1 Coronation March, TH 50 05:37
• 2 Italian Capriccio, Op. 45, TH 47 15:35
• 3 Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32, TH 46 24:20
• 4 Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture, TH 42 (1880 Version) 19:17
• 5 Slavonic March, Op. 31, TH 45 09:15
• Total Runtime 01:14:04

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Back in 1990, highly respected both nationally and internationally, Russian pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev formed the first independent orchestra in the history of his country, the Russian National Orchestra. Many of Russia’s finest musicians joined him in the launch of this ensemble, which achieved a towering stature among the world’s orchestras within a short period and which Pletnev continues to serve as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor.

Twenty-five years ago, the first recording the RNO ever made was of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, the Pathétique. This album combines Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Coronation March (1883), Capriccio Italien , Op. 45, Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32, Romeo and Juliet (1880) and Marche Slave, Op. 31. It completes the Tchaikovsky cycle including the integral symphonies and the Manfred Symphony, the RNO recorded for PENTATONE between 2011 and 2014, under the baton of its artistic director Mikhail Pletnev. At the occasion of the orchestra’s 25th anniversary in 2015, the cycle was re-released as a 7-SACD box-set.

With a musical content varying from virtuoso fireworks to ravishing lyricism, one could say this disc is a true coronation of the first 25 years of this magnificent orchestra.

Russian National Orchestra
Mikhail Pletnev, conductor

Mikhail Pletnev
After his studies at the Central Special Music School, Mikhail Pletnev entered the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1974, where he studied with Jakob Flier and Lev Vlasenko. Aged only 21, Pletnev was the Gold Medal and First Prize winner of the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition.

He has since appeared as soloist with the major orchestras under conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano and Kurt Sanderling. In 1990, following the collapse of the Soviet system, Mikhail Pletnev was able to realize his dream of forming the Russian National Orchestra. Under his artistic leadership, the RNO has become known as one of the world’s leading orchestras.

Although his conducting career is primarily focused on the RNO, he also makes appearances as a guest-conductor with such prestigious orchestras as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berliner Sinfonieorchester and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In September 1999, Pletnev was appointed the RNO’s Conductor Laureate and his collaboration with the orchestra has continued in many of its recordings and concerts. In February 2003, he conducted the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra at the Berliner Konzerthaus for the official opening of the Russian Year of Culture.

Mikhail Pletnev’s recordings and live performances as a pianist have proved him an outstanding interpreter of an extensive repertoire. As a composer, Pletnev’s works include the Classical Symphony, Quintet for Piano and Strings, Triptych for Symphony Orchestra, Fantasy on Kazakh Themes for Violin and Orchestra, and Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. In December 1998, the world première of his Concerto for Viola and Orchestra took place in Moscow, with Yuri Bashmet as soloist.

His stature in Russia was formally recognized in 1995, when he was awarded the First State Prize of the Russian Federation by President Yeltsin. In 2002, he again received this honour from President Putin.

The Russian National Orchestra
has been in demand throughout the music world ever since its 1990 Moscow premiere. Of the orchestra’s 1996 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 first Russian orchestra to perform at the Vatican and in Israel, the RNO maintains an active international tour schedule, appearing in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Guest artists performing with the RNO on tour include conductors Vladimir Jurowski, Nicola Luisotti, Antonio Pappano, Alan Gilbert and Carlo Ponti, and soloists Martha Argerich, Yefim Bronfman, Lang Lang, Pinchas Zukerman, Sir James Galway and Joshua Bell, among many others. Popular with radio audiences worldwide, RNO concerts are regularly aired by National Public Radio in the United States and by the European Broadcasting Union.

The orchestra has made several recordings for PENTATONE. The RNO’s recording of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Beintus’s 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. The orchestra’s Shostakovich cycle on PENTATONE is widely acclaimed as “the most exciting cycle of the Shostakovich symphonies to be put down on disc, and easily the best recorded” (SACD.net).

A regular visitor to the Schleswig-Holstein, Gstaad and Rheingau festivals, the RNO is also the founding orchestra of Napa Valley Festival del Sole, Festival of the Arts BOCA in Florida, and the Singapore Sun Festival, and resident orchestra for multiple seasons of the Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy.

In recognition of both its artistry and path-breaking structure, the Russian Federation recently awarded the RNO the first ever grant to a non-government orchestra.

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