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Mikhail Pletnev / Mikhail Tatarnikov
Mikhail Pletnev
Mikhail Pletnev is an artist whose genius as pianist, conductor and composer enchants and amazes audiences around the globe. At the keyboard and podium alike, Pletnev is recognized as one of the finest artists of our time. Pletnev was Gold Medal and First Prize winner of the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition when he was only 21, a prize that earned him early recognition worldwide. An invitation to perform at the 1988 superpower summit in Washington led to a friendship with Mikhail Gorbachev and the historic opportunity to make music in artistic freedom.
In 1990 Pletnev formed the first independent orchestra in Russia's history. The risks of this step, even with Gorbachev's endorsement, were enormous and it was Pletnev's reputation and commitment that made his long-held dream a reality. Sharing his vision for a new model for the performing arts, many of the country's finest musicians joined Pletnev in launching the Russian National Orchestra. Under his leadership, the RNO achieved in a few short years a towering stature among the world's orchestras. Pletnev describes the RNO as his greatest joy and today serves as its Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. In 2006, he launched the Mikhail Pletnev Fund for the Support of National Culture, a non-profit organization that supports major cultural initiatives and projects, including the RNO's annual Volga Tour and, in collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon, the Mikhail Pletnev Beethoven Project.
As a guest conductor, Pletnev appears regularly with leading orchestras such as London's Philharmonia Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In 2008 he was named first guest conductor of the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Switzerland.
Pletnev's recordings have earned numerous prizes, including a 2005 Grammy Award for the CD of his own Prokofiev's Cinderella arrangement, recorded with Martha Argerich and Pletnev at the keyboards. He received Grammy nominations for a CD of Schumann Symphonic Etudes (2004) and for his recording of Rachmaninov and Prokofiev Piano Concertos ##3 with the RNO and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich (2003). His album of Scarlatti's Keyboard Sonatas received a Gramophone Award in 1996. In 2007 he recorded all of Beethoven's piano concertos, and the recording of concertos #2 and #4 was named "The Best Concerto Recording of 2007" by the Tokyo Record Academy.
As a composer, Pletnev's works include Classical Symphony, Triptych for Symphony Orchestra, Fantasy on Kazakh Themes and Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. His unrivalled transcriptions for piano of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and Sleeping Beauty were selected, along with his performance of Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto and The Seasons, for the 1998 anthology "Great Pianists of the 20th Century" (Philips Classics).
Mikhail Tatarnikov
Mikhail Tatarnikov studied music at the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire under Professor Ilya Ioff (violin). After graduating from the Conservatoire in 2003 he subsequently continued his studies at the faculty of opera and symphony conducting (class of Alexander Polishchuk).
Mikhail Tatarnikov began his career at the Mariinsky Theatre as a violinist. In 1999 he joined the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra (first violinist). While employed with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Mikhail Tatarnikov had a busy concert schedule. Highlights of this period include appearances with the World Orchestra for Peace under Valery Gergiev in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Mikhail Tatarnikov made his debut as a conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre in November 2006 with the premiere of the ballet Metaphysics to Sergei Prokofiev's Second Symphony. In March 2007 conducted his first opera - a new production of Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges.
Mikhail Tatarnikov currently appears frequently at St Petersburg concert venues. In 2006 he supervised the Mariinsky Theatre's production of Stravinsky's musical tale L'histoire du soldat and in December 2007 he conducted the premiere of Mozart's opera Die Zauberflöte.
At the Mariinsky Theatre, Mikhail Tatarnikov has conducted Rimsky-Korsakov's operas Sadko and Kashchei the Deathless, while at the Concert Hall his engagements have included Prokofiev's opera Maddalena and Richard Strauss' Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and Vier letzte Lieder for soprano and orchestra.
As a guest conductor he has appeared with Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka at the Teatro Regio (Turin, Italy). In autumn 2006, having received a scholarship from the Ermenegildo Zegna Foundation, Mikhail Tatarnikov took part in master classes given by Gianandrea Noseda, subsequently appearing at the international festival Settimane Musicali di Stresa e del Lago Maggiore (Italy). Mikhail Tatarnikov has also conducted the Novosibirsk Philharmonic (2005) and St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire (2007) orchestras, and in July 2007 he was Valery Gergiev's assistant for performances of Der Ring des Nibelungen tetralogy at the Metropolitan Opera.
