Teodor Currentzis (Conductor)
Artistic Director of Perm State Opera and Ballet Theatre Founder and
Music Director of MusicAeterna Ensemble and Choir Artistic Director of the
International Diaghilev Festival
Teodor Currentzis (born
February 24, 1972) is a Greek-Russian conductor, musician and
actor.
Currentzis was born in Athens, and at the age of 4 began to take piano lessons, after which, at the age 7, he began violin lessons. He entered the National Conservatory, Athens at the age of 12, in the violin department. In 1987, aged 15, he commenced composition studies under Professor George Hadjinikos, and then in 1989 under Professor B. Shreck,[1] From 1994 till 1999 Currentzis studied conducting in the St. Petersburg State Conservatory under the legendary professor Ilya Musin - the teacher of conductors Gergiev, Temirkanov, Bychkov and many others
Teodor Currentzis is the Artistic Director of the Perm State Opera
and Ballet Theatre, Artistic Director of the ensemble MusicAeterna and of the
MusicAeterna Chamber Choir, both formed in 2004, during his tenure as Music
Director of the Novosibirsk State Opera and Orchestra
(2004-2010).
MusicAeterna, now resident in Perm, has been granted the
status of the first orchestra of Perm State Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
In 2015/16, MusicAeterna’s European touring include a new staging of Rheingold
at the Ruhrtriennale Festival, the Da Ponte Operas in concert version in
Dortmund and a tour with Patricia Kopatchsinkaja to include Berlin, Vienna,
Zurich, Rotterdam. At home, they will stage Traviata with Bob Wilson and give
concerts in St. Petersburg and Moscow. In recent seasons, MusicAeterna have made
their debuts at the Festival International d’Art Lyrique in Aix, Lucerne Easter
Festival, Helsinki Festival, Klara Festival, Brussels, Radialsystem Berlin,
Berlin Phiharmonie, Cité de la musique, the International Festival Baden-Baden,
the Bregenz Festival, Vienna Musikverein and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
Outside of Perm, Teodor will conduct a new production of Macbeth with Zürich
Opera and will return to SWR Baden-Baden for a tour with Patricia
Kopatchinskaja.
Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna are exclusive Sony
artists and this year will finish recording all the Mozart Da Ponte operas; the
first recording (Figaro) was released in January 2014 and won the ECHO prize for
Opera Recording of the Year (17th/18th century opera). Così fan tutte in 2015
and Don Giovanni will be released in 2016. Also this year he released The Sound
of Light; a compilation pieces by Rameau. In October 2015, he will release The
Rite of Spring. Previous recordings include Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14,
Mozart’s Requiem and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas all on the Alpha label and the
Shostakovich Piano Concertos with Alexander Melnikov and the Mahler Chamber
Orchestra on the Harmonia Mundi label.
In 2006, combining his knowledge
and passion for early music with contemporary composers and new music, Teodor
started the Territoria Modern Art Festival, which in a short space of time has
become the most prestigious and progressive annual music festival in
Moscow.
In 2015, Teodor was awarded the KAIROS-Preis, a coveted award
presented to European artists and scientists from the fields of visual and
performing arts, music, architecture, design, film, photography, literature and
journalism since 2007. Since 2005, Teodor has received Russia’s prestigious
Golden Mask theatrical award many times, most recently in 2015 together with the
Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre he received five awards for Indian Queen including
Best Opera Conductor.
In 2013 the Theatre received four Awards,
two of which for Best Opera Conductor and Best Ballet Conductor. Previous
awards include the Best Opera Conductor award (Wozzeck, Bolshoi 2009), for
a “brilliant performance of Prokofiev’s score” (Cinderella, 2007) and for
“outstanding results in the area of authentic performance” (The Marriage of
Figaro, 2008).
Born in Greece, Russia has become Teodor’s home since the
beginning of the 1990s, when he began studying conducting at the state
conservatory of St. Petersburg, under the tutelage of Professor Ilya Musin,
whose pupils, among others, were renowned conductors Odyseuss Dimitriadis,
Valery Gergiev, and Semyon Bychkov.
|