A unique music event will take place in November 2013 in Moscow. The Musical Olympus Foundation brings the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with Christian Thielemann as a conductor to the capital, where the orchestra will perform a series of concerts. In 4 concerts of the cycle all 9 symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven will be played.   

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the oldest symphony orchestras in Europe, is within reason considered to be one of the best orchestras in the world. No other orchestra is so closely interconnected with the history and traditions of European classical music. During its nearly 200 year long history this outstanding orchestra, based in one of the world music capitals, has become an integral part of the music epoch that definitely desires to be regarded as unique. Since its foundation by Otto Nicolai in 1842 the orchestra has astonished famous composers and conductors, as well as the audience around the world not only with its matchless sounding which is carefully passed from generation to generation but also with its unique structure and history.

“There has been no such a music event in our country before”, says Irina Nikitina, the president of the Musical Olympus Foundation, about the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra concert in Moscow. “The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is really the best orchestra in the world and Beethoven’s symphonies not only represent a significant stage in the development of symphony music, but also belong to the greatest achievements of the world culture. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear all the symphonies in such a performance, and we shouldn’t miss it.”

Most of the musicians in the Vienna Orchestra are performers of international renown. No other orchestra in the world has so many celebrities. At different periods of time such great musicians as Gustav Mahler, Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner, Richard Strauss, Giuseppe Verdi, Hans Richter conducted the orchestra. Christian Thielemann, who will be a conductor of the orchestra during the performances in Moscow, is one the brilliant modern musicians who determine the European symphony culture of today. 

Born in Berlin, Christian Thielemann comes from a family of music-lovers. He began his professional career in 1978 as a rehearsal pianist at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. In 1988 he moved to Nuremberg to become Germany’s youngest music director, in 1997 he returned to the Deutsche Oper Berlin where he held the position of a music director for 7 years. Thielemann conducted the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra from 2004 to 2011. In the summer of 2012 he took up the baton as Principal Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. 

His interpretations of German romantic music, both in opera and on the concert stage, are regarded around the world as exemplary. Since his Bayreuth debut in the summer of 2000, his annual appearances have set new standards in conducting. He has been musical advisor to the Bayreuth Festival since 2010. At the Salzburg Festival of 2011 Thielemann directed a new, highly acclaimed production of »Die Frau ohne Schatten« by Richard Strauss. Made an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2011, he has also been awarded honorary doctorates by the Franz Liszt College of Music in Weimar and the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). In 2013 Christian Thielemann will take the position of Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival, while the Staatskapelle Dresden will become the festival orchestra.

The annual New Year concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein is one of the most world-known concerts. This grand music event is broadcast live by 70 TV channels and 300 radio stations around the world. No wonder it is difficult to get tickets for this concert, though apart from the main event on January, 1.,  there are two rehearsal concerts on December, 30 and on the very eve of the New Year. It is quite prestigious to watch the performance on January, 1. The Austrians say, one should have bought a ticket 150 years ago, Vienna aristocrats inherit the tickets from the ancestors. The concert lasts about 2,5 hours, the number of TV viewers runs up to 50 million people. The program of the concert includes Vienna waltz, polka, mazurka, march.  

The musicians of the orchestra tour around the world, the schedule of the concerts is set for the next 5 years. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra today is much more than simply the most popular “cultural export” of Austria. The musicians are regarded as ambassadors, expressing the virtues of peace, humanity and understanding in the music, as they are closely interconnected with each other. The musicians take part in charity concerts on a regular basis. Among such events was a historically important performance of Beethoven’s Symphony №9 in 2000 together with Sir Simon Rattle at Mauthausen, one of the former largest concentration camps during the WWII in Austria, a concert in St. Patrick Cathedral in New York in 2002, dedicated to the victims of terrorism, annual charity concerts in New York in support of American-Austrian foundation and medical seminars Salzburg Cornell. Besides all the above mentioned, since 1999 a part of the revenue from the New Year concerts has been transferred to the accounts of several humanitarian organizations. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has been the Goodwill Ambassador of the WHO since 2005, the orchestra has supported the initiative “Hear the World”, aimed at attracting attention to the social and emotional issues of hearing loss, since 2006.

The upcoming concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Moscow will be a milestone in the Russian culture.

Concerts program

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Moscow

20–24 November 2013 г.

November, 20; 7 pm: Symphonies № 4 and № 5

November, 21; 7 pm: Symphonies № 6 and № 7

November, 23; 7 pm: Symphonies № 1, № 2, and № 3

November, 24; 2 pm: Symphonies № 8 and № 9

(With the Choir of the V. S. Popov Academy of Choral Art, Sun Young Seo (soprano, South Korea), Svetlana Shilova (mezzo-soprano, Russia), Michael König (tenor, Germany), Robert Hall (bass-baritone, Netherlands).