St.petersburg Orchestras

Born in 1943 in the Latvian capital of Riga, Mariss Jansons grew up in the Soviet Union as the son of conductor Arvid Jansons, studying violin, viola and piano and completing his musical education in conducting with high honours at the Leningrad Conservatory. Further studies followed with Hans Swarovsky in Vienna and Herbert von Karajan in Salzburg. In 1971 he won the conducting competition sponsored by the Karajan Foundation in Berlin. His work was also significantly influenced by the legendary Russian conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky, who engaged Mariss Jansons as his assistant at the Leningrad Philharmonic in 1972. Over the succeeding years Mariss Jansons remained loyal to this orchestra, today renamed the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, as a regular conductor until 1999, conducting the orchestra during that period on tours throughout the world. From 1971 to 2000 he was also professor of conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire.

Born in 1943 in the Latvian capital of Riga, Mariss Jansons grew up in the Soviet Union as the son of conductor Arvid Jansons, studying violin, viola and piano and completing his musical education in conducting with high honours at the Leningrad Conservatory. Further studies followed with Hans Swarovsky in Vienna and Herbert von Karajan in Salzburg. In 1971 he won the conducting competition sponsored by the Karajan Foundation in Berlin. His work was also significantly influenced by the legendary Russian conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky, who engaged Mariss Jansons as his assistant at the Leningrad Philharmonic in 1972. Over the succeeding years Mariss Jansons remained loyal to this orchestra, today renamed the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, as a regular conductor until 1999, conducting the orchestra during that period on tours throughout the world. From 1971 to 2000 he was also professor of conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire.

“Honoured Artist of Russia”, first prize winner at every international competition she participated in, Ludmila Berlinskaya played on the most prestigious stages in the world, including the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore, Barbican and Royal Albert Halls in London, la Fenice in Venice, the Royal Academy of Brussels, the National Auditorium in Madrid, the City Hall of Hong Kong, St. Petersburg Philharmony and all major halls of Moscow, where she grew up. She is regularly invited to prestigious festivals such as La Roque d’Anthéron, Colmar, Auvers sur Oise, Aix en Provence, Evian, Kuhmo, Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Orlando, Stavanger, Portogruaro Festivals etc.

This album includes all of the completed piano sonatas by Franz Schubert. These works occupy a unique realm within the piano literature. Russian pianist Larissa Dedova has previously recorded highly acclaimed recordings of the complete piano works of Debussy and Ravel for Centaur Records.

Yury Markovich Kramarov (1929-1982), one of the best representatives of St. Petersburg viola school, the outstanding Russian musician and teacher, has contributed a great deal to the development of the national viola art. In 1952 Kramarov, still a student at the Conservatoire then, was invited to fill the post of the viola group concertmaster of the Leningrad Philharmonic Society orchestra. Simultaneously he started teaching at the Conservatoire. From that time on performing and pedagogical arts were constantly present in his creative life and complemented each other. From 1956 through 1963 he was the viola group concertmaster in the famous Mravinsky Orchestra. In 1957 the young musician won two important and convincing prizes at the All-Union and International competitions in Moscow. Being a brilliant soloist, having performed with best national orchestras and conductors (Ye. Mravinsky, N. Rakhlin, A. Yansons, K. Eliasberg), Kramarov nonetheless was always drawn towards chamber music. Such leading figures of the Russian performing arts as I. Braudo, M. Vaiman, B. Gutnikov, V. Liberman, M.Rostropovich played together with Kramarov. The musician performed with great enthusiasm in the quartets named after Taneev, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Glazunov.

To celebrate the 100th birthday of the great Soviet composer Dmitry Shostakovich, Mariss Jansons assembled eight of the world's finest orchestras to determine which is the best of his 15 symphonies. There is no doubt that Jansons is the man for the job. Trained under Mravinsky and long steeped in Shostakovich's music, Jansons brings a lifetimes' love and intimacy to his interpretations - not to mention a terrific baton technique and an unfailing sense of tempo.