conductor Tugan Sokhiev

 

 

music

 

 

 

 

A long and fascinating journey is reserved to the public of the Final Concert. From Piazza Duomo you leave for the distant steppes of medieval Russia where the defeated Prince Igor is prisoner of the Polvcy nomads: Alexander Borodin becomes famous with the Polovetsian Dances, professor of chemistry at the Academy of Medicine in St. Petersburg, devoted to music for pleasure (he called himself a "Sunday composer"). With the second song we are in Verona: the immortal theme of love, entrusted to the English horn, presents the two young lovers par excellence, Romeo and Juliet, in one of the most famous pages of Pëtr Il´ič Čajkovskij. From Italy to St. Petersburg for the last part of the concert; it is in the ancient tsarist capital that Čajkovskij directs his Fifth Symphony in 1888: in spite of his pessimism, the reception of the audience and distinguished colleagues like Grieg and Dvořák is triumphant. The Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, one of the world´s major symphonic ensembles, led by the permanent conductor Tugan Sokhiev, will enhance the magic of the two composers united by the same nationality and excessive self-criticism; more than a century later, the worldwide success of these pieces of music belies both.

 

 

 

Tugan Sokhiev is Music Director of Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse (ONCT), where he served as Principal Guest Conductor for three seasons prior to becoming its Music Director in 2008. He is also Music Director Designate of Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and assumes the full title of Music Director at the start of the 2012-13 season. The relationship between Sokhiev and his musicians in Toulouse is increasingly celebrated - Figaro described the partnership as "at the centre of the French musical life" and Le Monde wrote of "sokhievmania" after a recent concert in Paris. The Berlin announcement in 2010 was received warmly by players and press alike. He also enjoys a close association with the Mariinsky Theatre and is in demand from leading opera houses and orchestras worldwide. Plans for the 2011/12 season include returns to Berlin Philharmonic, Finnish Radio, DSO Berlin, Philharmonia (to which he returns each season), Sydney Symphony and his debut with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and commitments with ONCT include tours to Germany, South America and the United Kingdom. Opera projects include Tosca at Theatre du Capitole and Boris Godunov at Vienna State Opera. Recent highlights include his critically-acclaimed débuts with Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics - where critics hailed him Dirigentenwunderwaffe (miracle conductor) - and European touring with the Philharmonia and Mahler Chamber orchestras. Future highlights include returns to Vienna Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, debuts with Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Chicago Symphony and major touring and symphonic projects with both DSO Berlin and ONCT. He has appeared as guest conductor with Orquesta Nacional de España, Fondazione Arturo Toscanini, National Philharmonic of Russia, NHK Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, RAI Turin, La Scala′s concert series, Bournemouth Symphony and Orchestra of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Frankfurt, Swedish Radio, Vienna Radio, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Orchestre National de France. His performance in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with Orchestre National du Capitole resulted in his being named Révélation musicale de l´année by the French Critics′ Union in 2005. During his collaboration with Toulouse, he has conducted many critically-acclaimed concerts across France, Germany, Vienna, Croatia, Spain, China, Japan and Russia. His discography includes numerous highly-acclaimed recordings for Naïve Classique with Toulouse - including Čajkovskij′s Fourth Symphony, Mussorgsky′s Pictures at an Exhibition, Rachmaninov′s Symphonic Dances and Prokofiev′s Peter and the Wolf. Their most recent release, Shostakovich′s Festive Overture and Čajkovskij′s Fifth Symphony has received wide praise. Sokhiev made his UK opera début with La bohème for Welsh National Opera in 2002 and the following year made his début at the Metropolitan Opera Company, New York, conducting the Mariinsky Opera′s Eugene Onegin. He also made a highly acclaimed first visit to the 2004 Aix-en-Provence Festival (Love of Three Oranges), followed by most successful revivals in Luxembourg and Teatro Real, Madrid and in 2006 conducted a much praised Boris Gudonov for Houston Grand Opera. In recent seasons he has conducted The Golden Cockerel, Iolanta, Samson and Delilah, The Firey Angel and Carmen at the Mariinsky Theatre and Pique Dame, Iolanta and Tosca at Théâtre du Capitole.

 

 

 

Created at the beginning of the nineteenth century for the opera seasons at the Théâtre du Capitole, the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse has been a major Symphony Orchestra since 1945, directed by André Cluytens and Georges Prêtre. The arrival of Michel Plasson in 1968 contributed greatly to the development of the symphonic vocation of the ensemble which launched numerous tours abroad and made an important series of musical recordings with EMI France. The Orchestra staff, enhanced by the musical renovation plan that Marcel Landowski launched, currently has 104 professors: in 1980, the Minister of Culture bestowed the title of National Orchestra on the Toulouse ensemble. In 2003 Plasson resigned as manager of the Orchestre National du Capitole, becoming its Honorary Conductor. The Orchestre National du Capitole is the star of the concert season at the Halle aux Grains in Toulouse and supports the opera and ballet season at the Théâtre du Capitole; it holds numerous concerts decentralized in the region, has been a permanent guest of many Festivals (Piano aux Jacobins, Chorégies of Orange, Nuits de Fourvière, Présences of Radio France .), and recorded with very prestigious artists. Among the last recordings with Michel Plasson, Carmen (starring Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna) received a "Victoire de la Musique Classique" in 2004. In 2008 the Orchestra received a "Victoire d´honneur" at the 15th edition of the Victoires de la musique classique.