SERGEI KRYLOV, Violin/conductor

Sergej Krylov has established himself as one of the most talented violinists of his generation. He is regularly invited to perform at prestigious concert halls worldwide and has appeared with orchestras including the Staatskapelle Dresden, Philharmonique de Radio France, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Filarmonica della Scala, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, London Philharmonic, Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Russian National Symphony, NHK Symphony (Tokyo), Atlanta Symphony, English Chamber and Budapest Festival orchestras.

Among the important personalities with whom he has worked, his friendship with Mstislav Rostropovich has been one of the most significant influences in Krylov’s artistic life. Krylov has appeared with many conductors including Mikhail Pletnev, Dmitri Kitajenko, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Jurowski, Andrey Boreyko, Fabio Luisi, Omer Meir Wellber, Yuri Temirkanov, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Asher Fisch, Vasily Petrenko, Nicola Luisotti, Saulius Sondeckis, Zoltán Kocsis and Yuri Bashmet.

Among the major events in Krylov’s calendar for 2015 and 2016 there are appearances with the St Petersburg Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, Filarmonica of La Scala, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Rai Orchestra Turin, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, ORF Symphony Orchestra Vienna, Taipei Symphony and Tokyo City Orchestra. In the meantime, he continues his very successful work as music director of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra performing concerts in Vilnius and touring all over Europe. Many recitals for solo violin and with piano complete his calendar.

Sergej devotes a great deal of time to chamber music projects, playing alongside Denis Matsuev, Yuri Bashmet, Itamar Golan, Lilya Zilberstein, Aleksandar Madžar, Bruno Canino, Stefania Mormone, Maxim Rysanov, Nobuko Imai, the Belcea Quartet and Elīna Garanča. Since 2008 he has been nominated Music Director of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and he is regularly taking on the double role of soloist and conductor in a wide repertoire ranging from Baroque music to contemporary works.

His discography, in addition to the release of the Paganini 24 Caprices, includes recordings for EMI and Melodya.

Born in Moscow into a family of musicians, Sergej Krylov began studying the violin at the age of five and completed his studies at the Moscow Central Music School. While still very young he won the International Lipizer Violin Competition, the Stradivarius International Violin Competition and the Fritz Kreisler Competition.

LANA TROTOVŠEK, Violin

“CLEAN, REFINED TONE WITH MUSICAL SENSE OF PHRASING AND IMPECCABLE INTONATION” The Washington Post

Violinist Lana Trotovsek has won admiration for her expressive playing and unique musicality. The Washington Post has described her as ‘Radiant’ and praised her ‘clean, refined tone with musical sense of phrasing and impeccable intonation’.

She has captivated audiences with her ‘warm sound and formidable technique’ La Vanguardia and her talent of bringing ‘freshness, depth and insight’ Broad Street Review to her interpretations.

Since her debut in 2012 with Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev, Lana Trotovsek appeared with some of the world’s finest orchestras.  In 2014, she toured with the Moscow Soloists and Yuri Bashmet and she recently performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.1 with the London Symphony Orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda .  Her 2015-16 schedule  included performances with Orchestra Teatro Verdi under Tan Dun, as well as playing with the Slovenian, Shanghai, Sarajevo, and Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestras, the RTV Slovenia, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, where she was described as “an emerging voice to watch” by Philadelphia Inquirer

“WARM SOUND AND FORMIDABLE TECHNIQUE” La Vanguardia

Trotovšek has performed at some of the most prestigious venues, including the Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven.  Her talent has taken her beyond Europe to perform in China, Japan, the UAE, Canada, the USA and she has performed with many eminent conductors such as George Pehlivanian, Hans Graf, Uros Lajovic, Barry Wordsworth, Andres Mustonen and others.

She has also featured as an artist at renowned international festivals including Rheingau, Aix en Provence, Shanghai International Arts Festival, Festival Internacional de Santander, Emilia Romagna, Ljubljana, Dubrovnik, Bad Kissingen, St Magnus International and Aldeburgh.

Trotovšek was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to a family of musicians.  At the age of 4, she began playing the violin under the guidance of Majda Jamsek.  When she was 17 years old, her prodigious talent was recognised by Ruggiero Ricci who mentored her at the Academy Mozarteum in Salzburg.  During this period, she continued her studies at the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana with Volodja Balzalorsky and Primoz Novsak.  In 2005, her passion and skill was rewarded with the Prešeren Award, the highest university award for arts in Slovenia, following her performance of the Khachaturian Violin Concerto with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of George Pehlivanian.

“SHE IS AN EMERGING VOICE TO WATCH” Philadelphia Enquirer

From 2006-2011, she was a member of the Greenwich Piano Trio with cellist Stjepan Hauser and pianist Yoko Misumi.  They won the Solti Foundation Award, The Tunnell Trust Award and other first prizes in chamber music competitions across Europe. They were guided by the Beaux Arts Trio cellist Bernard Greenhouse and pianist Menahem Pressler as well as Stephen Kovachevich.

Trotovšek continued her studies at Trinity College of Music with Vasko Vassilev, Boris Brovtsyn and Rivka Golani and at the London’s Royal College of Music with Itzhak Rashkovsky, winning many international prizes. From 2011-13, she was the leading violinist of the Badke String Quartet, winners of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.

“FRESHNESS, DEPTH AND INSIGHT” Broad Street Review

Lana Trotovšek lives in London and is a Professor at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where she completed her postgraduate studies in 2009.  She maintains close ties to her home country where she performs regularly and is a visiting assistant Professor at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana.  She plays the 1750 Pietro Antonio dalla Costa violin.

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Founded in 1960 by Prof. Saulius Sondeckis (Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, 1960–2004) the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra (LCO) is recognized as one of the finest and most internationally acclaimed Lithuanian orchestras. On the 23rd of April, 1960, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra (LCO) began rehearsing as a new formation and invited to its first public concert on the 30th of October the same year to gain instant recognition among the audiences and critics both at home and away.

Early on the LCO became the first Lithuanian orchestra to receive an official permission to tour outside the Soviet Union: in 1966, it gave two concerts in the then German Democratic Republic. The young and energetic group of Lithuania’s finest string players was instantly noticed both by musical professionals and audiences alike. Yet more intense advance towards the international music scene began a decade later, in 1976, when the LCO appeared at the Echternach festival in Luxembourg to great critical acclaim. This success led to numerous engagements to perform at the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals.

Over the years its tour itineraries have covered the length and breadth of Europe, reached both Americas, Cuba, Egypt, the Republic of South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, China, and Japan (six times!). The LCO has become a favourite at the Festival International Echternach where it appeared seven times and was awarded the festival’s Grand Lion medal. It has been many times applauded at many major European halls such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna’s Musikverein, London’s Royal Festival Hall, Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Salle Pleyel in Paris and Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. Four times it has appeared at the reputable Salzburg and Schleswig-Holstein festivals, and several times returned to the Bachwoche Ansbach, “December Nights of Sviatoslav Richter” at the Pushkin State Museum in Moscow, Rheingau Music Festival, Ivo Pogorelich Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, Berlin Festspiele, Ludwigsburg Festival and many others.

Among the many world celebrated masters of the baton who stood at the helm of the LCO on its numerous tours, the legendary Sir Yehudi Menuhin stands out for his special affinity and generosity towards this group of Lithuanian musicians. From the first rehearsals with the LCO in Spain in 1992 to his death in 1999, he conducted almost 60 concerts on the orchestra’s annual tours – from Bergen to Cairo. Some of these performances were committed to disc such as Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Schubert’s Mass No. 4 and Mass No. 5 (together with the Kaunas State Choir and a team of international soloists; all released on Apex). A great number of distinguished soloists of various countries and generations have joined the orchestra in concerts, including violinists Gidon Kremer, Tatiana Grindenko, Igor Oistrakh, Sergei Stadler, Oleg Kagan, Vladimir Spivakov, Gil Shaham, Daniel Hope, Julian Rachlin, Vadim Repin, Sasha Rozhdestvensky, Sarah Chang, Tamaki Kawakubo, Arabella Steinbacher, and Janine Jansen; violists Yuri Bashmet and Maxim Rysanov; cellists Mstislav Rostropovich, Natalia Gutman, Natalia Shakhovskaya, Karine Georgian, David Geringas, Mark Drobinsky, Mischa Maisky, Alexander Kniazev, Danjulo Ishizaka, and Denis Shapovalov; pianists Justus Frantz, Evgeny Kissin, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Elisso Virsaladze, Alexei Liubimov, Dmitry Bashkirov, Vladimir Krainev, Sergei Babayan, Barry Douglas, Denis Matsuyev, and Alexei Volodin; trumpetists Timofei Dokshizer, Guy Touvron, Reinhold Friedrich, Gábor Boldoczki, and Sergei Nakariakov; flutists Aurèle Nicolet, Jean Pierre Rampal, and Camilla Hoitenga; oboist Alexei Ogrintchouk, singers José van Dam, Elena Obraztsova, and Virgilijus Noreika, among many others.

During the five decades the LCO has not only performed countless programmes in close collaboration with various soloists, conductors and choirs, but also produced over a hundred recordings of diverse repertoire, with special attention to the music of Bach and Mozart. The German tours of 2000 and 2001 with the legendary British actor and reciter, Sir Peter Ustinov, as narrator resulted in the unique recording of Ludwig van Beethoven’s ballet music The Creatures of Prometheus (conducted by Karl Anton Rickenbacher and released on RCA Red Seal label), which became the bestseller of the BMG company. Several collaborations and tours with young Russian trumpet player Sergei Nakariakov led to the recording of the album Echoes from the past featuring transcriptions of concerti by Hummel, Mozart, Weber and Saint-Saëns (Teldec Classics, 2002), which received 5 stars the Classic CD category.

“… Thanks to the performers’ clear articulation, each sound in Joseph Haydn’s roulades became as if crystalline, clear and transparent, with delicate dynamic lining. <…> The orchestra’s ensemble quality and excellent teamwork created an impression of one performer, one body consisting of a multitude of individual cells, playing on stage…”

Along with performances of Baroque and classical masterpieces, the orchestra has frequently included new works in its programmes and recordings. It has always been an active promoter of Lithuanian music, having performed over 200 works by M.K.Čiurlionis, Balys Dvarionas, Stasys Vainiūnas, Eduardas Balsys, Julius Juzeliūnas, Teisutis Makačinas, Vytautas Barkauskas, Jonas Tamulionis, Arvydas Malcys, Algirdas Martinaitis, Mindaugas Urbaitis, Raminta Šerkšnytė, and Justė Janulytė. It has also given a number of world premieres of works by many internationally renowned composers such as Rodion Shchedrin, Edison Denisov, Sergei Slonimsky, Sofia Gubaidulina, Giya Kancheli, Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt, and Pēteris Vasks. Some of these works were composed in close collaboration with and dedicated to the orchestra.

Today the LCO not only keeps the high standard of artistic excellence but also explores new creative resources and presents original programmes each year. “The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra is like the finest quality instrument, having the distinctive sound and traditions of performance. I rank this orchestra among the leaders of the genre. Fifty years is a long history. Not so many orchestras in Europe can pride themselves on such glorious past,” says violinist Sergej Krylov who has been appointed the artistic director of the LCO in December 2008, after several successful appearances at the National Philharmonic in Vilnius. His broad purview and contacts in the musical world, as well as polished musicianship and professional experience raised the orchestra to the next professional level. The critics have not spared accolades in describing a dynamic musical partnership between the orchestra and its new leader: “a harmonious and conspiring relationship with the orchestra,” “an absolute attunement between the violinist-conductor and the orchestra,” “the charming and aristocratic gallantry, without improper familiarity, but with confidence in each other.” (atgimimas.lt)

“I demand from the orchestra what I am endeavouring myself: to achieve the best instrumental and technical quality of performance; to be constantly involved in searching for the new approaches to interpretation. I believe it is achievable and the LCO is worthy of its deserved place among the top ten chamber orchestras in Europe,” aspires Krylov, whose ambitious plans stimulate the members of the LCO to muster up the strength and energy for new creative challenges.