Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet "Fantasy Overture"

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Soloist: Vladimir Jurowski (Conductor)
Orchestra: Russian national Orchestra
Label: PentaTone Classics
Cat. No.: PTC 5186 330

“Tchaikovsky composed his Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, at the instigation of his mentor Balakirev, in 1869, revised it in 1870 and again in 1880. It is this final version that is usually heard in the concert hall and on countless recordings. Jurowski, however, has chosen to record the 1869 version in which Tchaikovsky’s first thoughts are so different that, in many respects, it almost becomes a new work. Of course, familiar elements of the 1880 version such as the “love music” and that depicting the feud between the Montagues and Capulets are still present, but are treated in a strikingly different manner. With Jurowski and the RNO on white-hot form this blistering performance certainly makes a compelling case for the earlier version.” SA-CD.net.

"Electrifyingly done, The Rite of Spring was so engrossing that by the end we felt we were involved in something thrilling yet truly horrible. This was a great interpretation that added immeasurably to Jurowski's reputation as one of the leading Stravinskyans of our time." Tim Ashley, The Guardian

"As one now expects from Jurowski, the string sound was lighter and less searingly intense than maestros of an older generation tended to encourage in Tchaikovsky. Instead, there was a white-knuckle tension and a real sense of a wild and tragic story recounted with enthralling detail, vivid colour and pace." Richard Morrison The Times

Born in Moscow, and son of conductor Mikhail Jurowski, Vladimir Jurowski completed the first part of his musical studies in his native town at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1990 he relocated with his family to Germany where he continued his studies at High Schools of Music in Dresden and in Berlin, studying conducting with Rolf Reuter and vocal coaching with Semion Skigin. In 1995 he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival, where he conducted Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night. The same year saw his brilliant debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Nabucco. In 1996 Jurowski joined the ensemble of Komische Oper Berlin, becoming First Kapellmeister in 1997 and continuing to work at the Komische Oper on a permanent basis until 2001.

Since 1997 Vladimir Jurowski has been a guest at some of the world's leading musical institutions including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Opera Bastille de Paris, Theatre de la Monnaie Bruxelles, Maggio Musicale Festival Florence, Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro, Edinburgh Festival, Semperoper Dresden and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (where he has served as Principal Guest Conductor between 2000 and 2003). In 1999 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York with Rigoletto.

In January 2001 Vladimir Jurowski took up the position as Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera and in 2003 was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, becoming the orchestra's Principal Conductor in September 2007. He also holds the title “Principal Artist” of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and from 2005 to 2009 served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra with whom he will continue to work in the years ahead.

Vladimir Jurowski is a regular guest with many of the world's leading orchestras including the Berlin and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, and the Dresden Staatskapelle, and in the US with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. Highlights of the 2010/11 season and beyond include his debuts with the Vienna Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and return visits to the Chicago Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Dresden Staatskapelle and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

His operatic appearances have included Jenufa, The Queen of Spades and Hansel und Gretel at the Metropolitan Opera, Parsifal and Wozzeck at the Welsh National Opera, War and Peace at the Opera National de Paris, Eugene Onegin at La Scala Milan, as well as Die Zauberflöte, La Cenerentola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, The Rakes’ Progress and Peter Eötvös’ Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne Opera. Future engagements include new productions of Die Meistersinger and The Cunning Little Vixen at Glyndebourne, Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre, and Iolanta at the Dresden Semperoper.

Jurowski’s discography includes the first ever recording of the cantata Exile by Giya Kancheli for ECM (1994), L’etoile du Nord by Meyerbeer for Naxos-Marco Polo (1996), Werther for BMG (1999), as well as live recordings of works by Rachmaninov, Turnage, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Brahms and Shostakovich on London Philharmonic Orchestra’s own label, and Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery on Glyndebourne Opera’s own label. He also records for PentaTone with the Russian National Orchestra, with releases to date including Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 3 and Stravinsky's Divertimento from Le baiser de la fée, Shostakovich Symphonies No 1 & 6, Prokofiev Symphony No 5, and Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet Incidental Music. Glyndebourne have released DVD recordings of his performances of La Cenerentola, Gianni Schicchi, Die Fledermaus, and Rachmaninov’s The Miserly Knight, and other recent DVD releases include Hansel und Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera New York, and his first concert as London Philharmonic Orchestra’s principal conductor featuring works by Wagner, Berg and Mahler (released by Medici Arts).

Season 2010/2011

Date Last Edited: 26th July 2010