Kirill Kondrashin
Kiril Petrovich Kondrashin was internationally the best-known conductor of the Soviet Union and also the most prominent one to emigrate from that country. He was known for vigorous and solid performances of a wide repertory, particularly the Russian masters.
He was brought up with music, as his family included several orchestral musicians. He took piano lessons, and the family got him lessons in musical theory at the Musical Teknikum with Nikolai Zhilyayev, who had a strong influence on him. While still a student, he made his conducting debut in 1931 at the Children's Theater. He entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1934, where he studied conducting with Boris Khaikin. He graduated in 1936, but by then had obtained a job as assistant conductor at the Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theater in 1934, debuting with the operetta Les cloches de Corneville by Planquette.
In 1936 he was conductor at the Maly Opera Theater in Leningrad, retaining that post until 1943. Along with other artists who were deemed important to the war effort, he was evacuated from besieged Leningrad after the German invasion of Russia. In 1943, he became a member of the conducting staff of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater, which was also in a wartime home outside the capital. He remained with the Bolshoi until 1956, making marked improvement in his interpretation that he attributed to working with the experienced conductors of the Bolshoi and to his being entrusted with several important new productions.
Meanwhile, a demand was building for him as a concert conductor. He received Stalin Prizes in 1948 and 1949. When he left the Bolshoi, it was with the intention of centering his career on the podium rather than in the pit. His fame grew greatly in 1958, when he led the orchestra in the prizewinning appearances of American pianist Van Cliburn at the Tchaikovsky International Competition. Cliburn charmed both his home country and his Russian hosts, and the resulting LP record of the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto, conducted by Kondrashin, was a long-time best seller. This led to his American and British debuts, making Kondrashin the first Soviet conductor to appear in the U.S.
In 1960 he was named artistic director of the Moscow Philharmonic, and as such participated in another piano concerto blockbuster recording with a U.S. piano star, the great Prokofiev Third Concerto recording for Mercury with Byron Janis, still considered by many the greatest interpretation of that brilliant work on disc. Kondrashin's performances were bright and dramatic, tending to programmatic interpretations that commentators saw as the legacy of his theater career. He was the U.S.S.R.'s finest interpreter of Mahler, leading all the symphonies with unusual restraint and with the expressive and dramatic qualities of the music seemingly enhanced by understatement.
He left the Moscow Philharmonic in 1975, turning to guest conducting. As a result of high demand outside the U.S.S.R., he decided to emigrate in 1978. He was named permanent conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 1979, and immediately began making a notable series of recordings with them, but died in that city only two years later.
© TiVo
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Kondrashin: The Soviet Years. Chopin, Scriabin
Kirill Kondrashin, Bella Davidovich, Dmitry Bashkirov
Classique - Paru chez Music Online le 31 août 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1 In B-Flat Minor, Op. 23
Van Cliburn, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Music Manager le 23 janv. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
50 Essential Classical Pieces by Moscow RTV Large Symphony Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Black Sheep Music le 31 mai 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Capiccio italien, Op. 45 - Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 (Mono Version)
RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 129 (Digitally Remastered)
Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, Kirill Kondrashin, David Oïstrakh
Musique concertante - Paru chez EMG Classical le 29 juin 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff & Tchaikovsky: Cello Works
Daniil Shafran, Felix Gottlieb, Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, Kirill Kondrashin
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Russian Compact Disc le 2 juil. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Concerto pour piano et orchestre No. 1, Op. 23 (Mono Version)
Van Cliburn, Kirill Kondrashin, Orchestre symphonique Kirill Kondrashin
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 10 - 15
Kirill Kondrashin, The Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic Society
Classique - Paru chez Denon le 1 janv. 2009
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Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Kirill Kondrashin, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez JSC Firma Melodiya le 1 janv. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Concerto pour violon, Op. 77 & Danses hongroises Nos. 5, 8, 9 & 11 (Mono Version)
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin, David Oïstrakh, Vladimir Yampolsky
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony Nos. 1 'Titan' & 5
Kirill Kondrashin, Moscow RTV Large Symphony Orcherstra
Classique - Paru chez Denon le 1 janv. 2009
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Kondrashin: The Soviet Years. Liszt, Mendelssohn
Kirill Kondrashin, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Pavel Serebryakov
Classique - Paru chez Music Online le 3 sept. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler Symphony No. 7
Classique - Paru chez Best Buy Classical le 24 mars 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Concerto Grosso in A Minor - Tartini: "Les Trilles du Diable" (Mono Version)
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4
Kirill Kondrashin, Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Denon le 1 janv. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Russian Piano Tradition: Tatiana Nikolayeva (Recorded 1950-1951)
Tatiana Nikolayeva, USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Nikolai Anosov, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez APR le 1 août 2008
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Franz List Gala (Broadcast of 1961)
Kirill Kondrashin, London Symphony Orchestra, Sviatoslav Richter
Pop - Paru chez Festive Music le 30 nov. 2020
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Kondrashin: The Soviet Years. Glazunov, Franck, Rimsky-Korsakov
Kirill Kondrashin, Sviatoslav Richter
Classique - Paru chez Music Online le 31 août 2007
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Liszt: Works for Piano & Orchestra
Sviatoslav Richter, London Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Urania Records le 1 oct. 2014
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Kondrashin: The Soviet Years. Saint-Saens
Kirill Kondrashin, Emil Gilels, Sviatoslav Richter
Classique - Paru chez Music Online le 30 août 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Russian Piano Tradition: Emil Gilels & Yakov Zak
Emil Gilels, Yakov Zak, USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez APR le 1 mars 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo