Orchestra Biography
The Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra has achieved worldwide acclaim for its sophisticated performances and dynamic programs. The orchestra was the inspiration of Nazib Zhiganov, former Chairman of the Composers Union of Tatarstan and Dean of the Kazan Conservatory. On the initiative of Zhiganov and Tabeev, the first secretary of the Tatar regional committee of the The Communist Party of the Soviet Union, conductor Natan Rakhlin was invited to Kazan. After his death in 1979, Renat Salavatov, Sergey Kalagin, Ravil Martynov, Imant Kotsinsh have worked with the orchestra. In 1985 Fuat Mansurov, the People’s Artist of Russia and the Kazakh SSR, was offered to be an artistic director and chief conductor; he worked with the TNSO for 25 years. In 2010, after the death of Fuat Mansurov, the Honored artist of Russia (People’s Artist of Russia since 2016, People’s Artist of Republic of Tatarstan since 2020) Alexander Sladkovsky, with whom the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra opened the 45th concert season, was appointed the new Artistic Director and Chief Conductor.
The orchestra entered a new phase since Maestro Sladkovsky came. Organized by the TNSO and Alexander Sladkovsky international music festivals such as Rakhlin Seasons, Miras, White Lilac, Kazan Autumn, Concordia, Denis Matsuev Meets Friends, International Organ festival and Creative Discovery are considered ones of the most prominent events in cultural life of Tatarstan and Russia. The orchestra runs the project “Property of the Republic” for talented pupils from music schools and conservatory students; the educational project for Kazan schools pupils “Music lessons with an orchestra” and the project “Healing through music” for seriously ill children.
Among the creative partners of the TNSO are such famous performers and cultural figures as Ildar Abdrazakov, Boris Andrianov, Boris Berezovsky, Igor Butman, Aida Garifullina, Khibla Gerzmava, Veronika Dzhioeva, Placido Domingo, Barry Douglas, Simone Kermes, Sergey Krylov, Vasily Ladyuk Nikolay Lugansky, Mischa Maisky, Denis Matsuev, Mikhail Pletnev, Edward Radzinsky, Vadim Repin, Sergey Roldugin, Maxim Rysanov, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Nikolaj Znaider, Sumi Cho, Albina Shagimuratova and others.
Over the years, the orchestra has also collaborated with a number of conductors, including Yuri Bashmet, Vladimir Altshuler, Michael Güttler, Ken-David Mazur, Christopher Moulds, Andres Mustonen, Krzysztof Penderecki, Marc Piollet, Vladimir Spivakov, Ernst Theis, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Dmitry Jurowski, Kristjan Jarvi, Freddy Cadena and many others.
The TNSO under the direction of Alexander Sladkovsky is the first Russian regional orchestra recorded by Medici.tv and Mezzo channels. In 2014, the TNSO conducted by Alexander Sladkovsky performed at the La Folle Journée festival in Japan. In 2016, for the first time in the orchestra’s history, it gave concerts during a European tour in the Brucknerhaus (Linz) and in the Golden Hall of Musikverein (Vienna). In December 2018, the TNSO and Maestro Alexander Sladkovsky made the first tour in China. In 2019, the TNSO conducted by Alexander Sladkovsky performed at the La Folle Journée festival in France and Japan as well as at the La Roque d'Antheron Festival. Alexander Sladkovsky and Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra had concert tours in Turkey (2015), Slovakia (2016), Switzerland (2016, 2017), Germany (2016), Spain (2017, 2020), Dubai (2022), Oman (2022).
In 2016 in cooperation with the Melodiya record label several global musical projects were realized: the recording of three symphonies of G. Mahler (Nos. 1, 5, 9) and all symphonies and concertos of D. Shostakovich. In May 2020, the digital release of the “Tchaikovsky-2020” box set took place — a recording of all symphonies and instrumental concerts of P. I. Tchaikovsky on the Sony Classical label. In August 2020, the TNSO under the direction of Alexander Sladkovsky recorded symphonic works by S. Rachmaninoff on the Sony Classical label. March 2021 concert-presentations of the box set «Sergey Rachmaninoff. Symphony Collection» were held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kazan. In July 2021, all of L. van Beethoven's symphonies and music of I. Stravinsky's ballets were recorded.
The Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Sladkovsky is currently the first and only regional orchestra that has been honored to have its own annual subscription in the Moscow State Philharmonic Society.