Academic Chapel. Moscow Symphony Chapel

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State Academic symphony chapel Russia- a unique team of over 200 artists. It unites the choir, orchestra and vocal soloists, who, existing in an organic unity, at the same time retain a certain creative independence.

The State Capella was formed in 1991 by the merger of the State Chamber Choir of the USSR under the direction of Valery Polyansky and the State Symphony Orchestra of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR headed by Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

Both teams went through a glorious creative way. The orchestra was founded in 1957 and until 1982 was the orchestra of the All-Union Radio and Television, since 1982 - the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture. IN different time it was led by S. Samosud, Yu. Aranovich and M. Shostakovich. The chamber choir was created by V. Polyansky in 1971. Since 1980, the team has received new status and became known as the State Chamber Choir of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR.

With the choir, Valery Polyansky traveled all over the republics of the USSR, became the initiator of the festival in Polotsk, which was attended by Irina Arkhipova, Oleg Yanchenko, the Ensemble of Soloists Bolshoi Theater USSR ... In 1986, at the invitation of Svyatoslav Richter, Valery Polyansky and his choir presented a program of works by P. I. Tchaikovsky at the December Evenings festival, and in 1994 - "All-Night Vigil" by S. V. Rachmaninov. At the same time, the State Chamber Choir made itself known abroad, triumphantly performing with Valery Polyansky at the festivals "Singing Wroclaw" (Poland), in Merano and Spoleto (Italy), Izmir (Turkey), in Narden (Holland); memorable participation in the famous "Promenade Concerts" in the Albert Hall (Great Britain), performances in historical cathedrals France - in Bordeaux, Amiens, Albi.

The birthday of the State Chapel is December 27, 1991: then in Great Hall Antonin Dvorak's cantata "Wedding Shirts" performed at the Conservatory conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky. In 1992 artistic director and Valery Polyansky became the chief conductor of the GASK of Russia. The activities of the choir and orchestra of the Chapel are carried out both in joint performances and in parallel. The ensemble and its chief conductor are welcome guests at the best venues in Moscow, regular members of the Moscow Philharmonic, the Moscow Conservatory and the Moscow International House of Music, and have performed with the finalists of the international Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov competitions. The chapel toured with triumph in the USA, England, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and in the countries of Southeast Asia.

The basis of the group's repertoire is cantata-oratorio genres: masses, oratorios, requiems of all eras and styles - Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Berlioz, Liszt, Verdi, Dvorak, Rachmaninoff, Reger, Stravinsky, Britten, Shostakovich, Schnittke, Eshpai . Valery Polyansky constantly conducts monographic symphonic cycles, dedicated to Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Mahler and other great composers.

Many Russian and foreign performers. A particularly close and long-term creative friendship connects the team with Gennady Nikolaevich Rozhdestvensky, who annually presents his personal philharmonic subscription with the State Capella of Russia.

Behind last years the team has developed its own scheme in building the season. His extreme points devoted to performances in small towns. Since 2009, the Capella has been holding the September Evenings festival in Tarusa (together with the Svyatoslav Richter Foundation), introducing masterpieces of symphonic and choral music residents of Torzhok, Tver, Kaluga. In 2011, Yelets was added, where the world premiere of Alexander Tchaikovsky's opera The Legend of the City of Yelets, the Virgin Mary and Tamerlane, staged by director Georgy Isahakyan, was triumphant. “We don't need a lot of words about patriotism,” V. Polyansky formulated his position, “young people just need to hear this music that inspires love for the motherland. It is a crime that there are cities where people have never heard a live symphony orchestra, never seen opera performances. We are trying to correct this injustice."

The repertoire policy of the State Capella reflects and important dates world history. To the 200th anniversary of the victory in Patriotic war 1812, a concert performance of the opera War and Peace by Prokofiev took place (in Torzhok and Kaluga), the world premiere of the oratorio The Sovereign's Affairs by A. Tchaikovsky was timed to the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty (2013, Lipetsk, Moscow), and New stage The Bolshoi Theater of Russia performed "Life for the Tsar" by M. Glinka.

A landmark event of 2014 was the concert performance by the State Capella of Prokofiev's rarely performed opera Semyon Kotko, which took place on the New Stage of the Bolshoi Theater and at the Central Academic Theater Russian army and was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. At the same venues, the team celebrated its 70th anniversary Great Victory performance of K. Molchanov's opera "The Dawns Here Are Quiet".

The touring activity of the State Capella is intensive. The orchestra's excellence was applauded by the British audience during the 2014 autumn tour. “There are conductors who consider Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony too famous and play it on auto-pilot, but Polyansky and his orchestra were just great. The music of Tchaikovsky, of course, entered the flesh and blood of this collective; Polyansky played this immortal masterpiece in the way I am sure Tchaikovsky himself would like to hear it,” noted British critic and composer Robert Matthew-Walker.

In 2015, the orchestra's concerts were triumphant in the United States, Belarus (the festival of sacred music "God Are Mighty") and Japan, where the audience appreciated V. Polyansky's interpretations of Tchaikovsky's last three symphonies.

The State Academic Symphony Chapel of Russia is a grandiose group of over 200 artists. It unites vocal soloists, choir and orchestra, which, existing in an organic unity, at the same time retain a certain creative independence.

GASK was formed in 1991 by the merger of the State Chamber Choir of the USSR under the direction of V. Polyansky and the State Symphony Orchestra of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, headed by G. Rozhdestvensky. Both teams have come a long way. The orchestra was founded in 1957 and immediately took its rightful place among the best symphonic ensembles in the country. Until 1982, he was the orchestra of the All-Union Radio and Television, at various times it was led by S. Samosud, Y. Aranovich and M. Shostakovich: since 1982 - GSO of the Ministry of Culture. The chamber choir was created by V. Polyansky in 1971 from among the students of the Moscow State Conservatory (subsequently the composition of the choristers was expanded). True triumph brought him participation in international competition polyphonic choirs "Guido d'Arezzo" in Italy in 1975, where the choir received gold and bronze medals, and V. Polyansky was recognized as the best conductor of the competition and awarded special prize. In those days, the Italian press wrote: "This is a genuine Karajan choral conducting, with an exceptionally bright and flexible musicality. After this success, the team confidently stepped onto the big concert stage.

Today, both the choir and the GASK orchestra are unanimously recognized as one of the most high-class and creatively interesting musical groups Russia.

The first performance of the Capella with the performance of A. Dvorak's cantata "Wedding Shirts" conducted by G. Rozhdestvensky took place on December 27, 1991 in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and was an outstanding success, which set the creative level of the group and determined its high professional class.

Since 1992 the Capella has been headed by Valery Polyansky.

The Capella's repertoire is truly limitless. Thanks to a special "universal" structure, the team has the opportunity to perform not only masterpieces of choral and symphonic music belonging to different eras and styles, but also refers to the huge layers of the cantata-oratorio genre. These are masses and other works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Rossini, Bruckner, Liszt, Grechaninov, Sibelius, Nielsen, Szymanowski; requiems by Mozart, Verdi, Cherubini, Brahms, Dvorak, Fauré, Britten; John of Damascus by Taneyev, The Bells by Rachmaninov, The Wedding by Stravinsky, oratorios and cantatas by Prokofiev, Myaskovsky, Shostakovich, vocal and symphonic works by Gubaidulina, Schnittke, Sidelnikov, Berinsky and others (many of these performances became world or Russian premieres) .

In recent years, V. Polyansky and the Capella have paid special attention to concert performances of operas. The number and variety of operas prepared by GASK, many of which have not been performed in Russia for decades, are amazing: Tchaikovsky's Cherevichki, Enchantress, Mazepa and Eugene Onegin, Nabucco, Il trovatore and Louise Miller by Verdi, "The Nightingale" and "Oedipus Rex" by Stravinsky, "Sister Beatrice" by Grechaninov, "Aleko" by Rachmaninov, "La Boheme" by Leoncavallo, "The Tales of Hoffmann" by Offenbach, " Sorochinskaya Fair Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov's The Night Before Christmas, Giordano's Andre Chenier, Cui's Feast in Time of Plague, Prokofiev's War and Peace, Schnittke's Gesualdo...

One of the foundations of the Capella's repertoire is the music of the 20th century and the present day. The team is a permanent member International Festival contemporary music"Moscow autumn". In autumn 2008 he took part in the Fifth International Gavrilinsky music festival in Vologda.

The chapel, its choir and orchestra are frequent and welcome guests in the regions of Russia and in many countries of the world. In recent years, the band has successfully toured the UK, Hungary, Germany, Holland, Greece, Spain, Italy, Canada, China, the USA, France, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden…

Many outstanding Russian and foreign performers collaborate with the Capella. A particularly close and long-term creative friendship connects the team with G. N. Rozhdestvensky, who annually presents his personal philharmonic subscription with the State Architectural Complex.

Capella's discography is extremely extensive, numbering about 100 recordings (most for Chandos), incl. All choral concerts D. Bortnyansky, all symphonic and choral compositions S. Rachmaninov, many works by A. Grechaninov, almost unknown in Russia. A recording of Shostakovich's 4th symphony has recently been released, and Myaskovsky's 6th symphony, Prokofiev's War and Peace, and Schnittke's Gesualdo are being prepared for release.