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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50 Essential Classical Pieces by Moscow RTV Large Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Black Sheep Music on 31 May 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
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 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
Concertos - Released by EMG Classical on 29 Jun 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
Chamber Music - Released by Russian Compact Disc on 2 Jul 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
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 10 - 15
Kirill Kondrashin, The Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic Society
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Kirill Kondrashin, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by JSC Firma Melodiya on 1 Jan 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
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony Nos. 1 'Titan' & 5
Kirill Kondrashin, Moscow RTV Large Symphony Orcherstra
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kondrashin: The Soviet Years. Liszt, Mendelssohn
Kirill Kondrashin, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Pavel Serebryakov
Classical - Released by Music Online on 3 Sep 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler Symphony No. 7
Classical - Released by Best Buy Classical on 24 Mar 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
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4
Kirill Kondrashin, Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 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
Classical - Released by APR on 1 Aug 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franz List Gala (Broadcast of 1961)
Kirill Kondrashin, London Symphony Orchestra, Sviatoslav Richter
Pop - Released by Festive Music on 30 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kondrashin: The Soviet Years. Glazunov, Franck, Rimsky-Korsakov
Kirill Kondrashin, Sviatoslav Richter
Classical - Released by Music Online on 31 Aug 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Works for Piano & Orchestra
Sviatoslav Richter, London Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classical - Released by Urania Records on 1 Oct 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kondrashin: The Soviet Years. Saint-Saens
Kirill Kondrashin, Emil Gilels, Sviatoslav Richter
Classical - Released by Music Online on 30 Aug 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
Classical - Released by APR on 1 Mar 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Russian Piano School (L'Ecole russe de piano)
Alexei Lubimov, Russian State Academy Chorus, State Academy Symphony Orchestra of Russia, Moscow State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, David Oïstrakh, Kirill Kondrashin
Classical - Released by Russian Compact Disc on 5 Jun 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 (Single)
Classical - Released by Best Buy Classical on 4 Nov 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo