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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Ravel, Beethoven & Godard: Violin Works
David Oïstrakh, USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Sviatoslav Knushevitsky, Kirill Kondrashin, Lev Oborin
Classique - Paru chez Russian Compact Disc le 20 août 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kondrashin: The Soviet Years. Mozart
Kirill Kondrashin, David Oïstrakh, Grigory Ginzburg
Classique - Paru chez Music Online le 30 août 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Divorce Revenge
Stadium Symphony Orchestra Of New York, Kirill Kondrashin, The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Music Manager le 11 déc. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Masterpieces, Vol. 5: Ferenc Liszt & Robert Schumann
Sviatoslav Richter, London Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Jube Classic le 6 janv. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole, Op. 21 & Tchaikovsky: Sérénade Mélancolique, Op. 26
The Philharmonia Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Radio Tower Records le 26 nov. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms Symphonies: A Collection
Classique - Paru chez Black Sheep Music le 30 mai 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius Pelleas & Melissande Op. 46 Suite 1-4
Classique - Paru chez Best Buy Classical le 4 avr. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 3: 1-4
Classique - Paru chez Best Buy Classical le 4 avr. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony 1
Classique - Paru chez Best Buy Classical le 4 avr. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich, D.: Symphony No. 1 (Ussr State Symphony, Kondrashin) (1951)
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Naxos Classical Archives le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Karlowicz, M.: Violin Concerto / Machavariani, A.: Violin Concerto (Barinova, Vaiman) (1955-1956)
Galina Barinova, Mikhail Vaiman, USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin, Odyssey Dimitriadi
Classique - Paru chez Naxos Classical Archives le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann, R.: Cello Concerto / Haydn, J.: Divertimento / Falla, M. De.: 7 Canciones Populares Espanolas (Excerpts) (Shafran) (1955, 1957)
Daniil Borisovich Shafran, USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Nina Musinian, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Naxos Classical Archives le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 80
Van Cliburn, The Symphony of the Air, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Music Manager le 17 sept. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Conductor Legend: Kirill Kondrashin, Vol. 3
Kirill Kondrashin, Mstislav Rostropovich, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Intense Media GmbH le 3 déc. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Conductor Legend: Kirill Kondrashin, Vol. 7
Lenoid Kogan, Mstislav Rostropovich, Philharmonia Orchestra, Moscow Youth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Intense Media GmbH le 3 déc. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Conductor Legend: Kirill Kondrashin, Vol. 6
Leonid Kogan, Sviatoslav Richter, Philharmonia Orchestra, Moscow Youth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Intense Media GmbH le 3 déc. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30
Van Cliburn, Kirill Kondrashin, Symphony of the Air
Classique - Paru chez Ancien Prodige le 15 janv. 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Ballet Suites
French National Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez CarltonClassics le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Conductor Legend: Kirill Kondrashin, Vol. 5
David Oïstrakh, Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Intense Media GmbH le 3 déc. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Conductor Legend: Kirill Kondrashin, Vol. 4
Van Cliburn, Symphony of the Air, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Intense Media GmbH le 3 déc. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Conductor Legend: Kirill Kondrashin, Vol. 9
Leonid Kogan, Sviatoslav Richter, USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Classique - Paru chez Intense Media GmbH le 3 déc. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo