Over to Amsterdam via Geneva this week for a concert by The Netherlands Radio Symphony conducted by Vassily Sinaisky and featuring Pekka Kuusisto, violin in music by Elgar, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky. It was recorded on June 29, 2012 as part of the Robeco Summer Series.
Starting the concert with Elgar’s Allasio – In The South op. 50. The orchestra is then joined by Pekka Kuusisto for a performance of the Sibelius violin concerto and concludes with Vassily Sinaisky’s arrangement of the Suite from Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky.
In classical circles, Pekka Kuusisto is internationally renowned both as soloist and director and is recognised for his fresh approach to the repertoire. A strong advocate of new music, he regularly collaborates with contemporary composers and in the 2012–13 season gave the world premiere of Sebastian Fagerlund’s Violin Concerto, written for him and commissioned by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. Other recent highlights have included concerts with the Finnish Radio Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Swedish Chamber, Toronto Symphony and Washington’s National Symphony orchestras, as well as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Konzerthausorchester Berlin.
In 2013–14, Kuusisto joined frequent collaborators Britten Sinfonia in performances of four Britten works as part of the composer’s centenary celebrations, with choreography by the Richard Alston Dance Company. He also returned to the Cincinnati Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony and Philharmonia orchestras.
Kuusisto seeks to engage with people across the artistic spectrum, working on new interpretations of existing repertoire alongside original works. He regularly directs ensembles from the violin, including the Australian, London, Irish, Mahler and Saint Paul chamber orchestras, as well as the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Recent recital partners include Iiro Rantala, Anne Sofie von Otter, Angela Hewitt, Kimmo Pohjonen and Nicolas Altstaedt. He gave the world premiere of Olli Mustonen’s Sonata for Violin and Piano with the composer at the Wigmore Hall in spring 2013, and later the same year toured Europe with his traditional music group, The Luomu Players.
Vassily Sinaisky was Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic from 1996 until January 2012. Sinaisky has made several recordings with the BBC Philharmonic for Chandos, including works by Karol Szymanowski, Rodion Shchedrin, Mily Balakirev, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Franz Schreker, as well as a series of recordings of Dmitri Shostakovich’s film music. Sinaisky now has the title of conductor emeritus with the BBC Philharmonic.
Vassily Sinaisky was principal conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra from January 2007 through the 2010-2011 season. With the Malmö orchestra, he has conducted commercial recordings for the Naxos label, including music of Franz Schmidt. He became Conductor in Residence at the Bolshoi Theatre with the 2009-2010 season. In August 2010, he was named the Bolshoi’s music director and chief conductor. In December 2013, Sinaisky resigned his posts with the Bolshoi Theatre, with immediate effect.
In December 2018, Sinaisky first guest-conducted the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra. He returned for a second guest-conducting engagement at the start of the 2019-2020 season. In April 2020, the orchestra announced the appointment of Sinaisky as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2020-2021 season. Sinaisky concluded his chief conductorship of the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra at the close of the 2023-2024 season.
On to the concert.
