Greek conductor, musician and actor
Teodor Currentzis
(
Greek
:
Θε?δωρο? Κουρεντζ??
Greek:
[θ???ð?r?s
kur?n??is]
; born 24 February 1972) is a Greek
conductor
, musician and actor.
Biography
[
edit
]
Currentzis was born in
Athens
, and at the age of four began to take
piano
lessons. At age seven, he began
violin
lessons. He entered the
National Conservatory, Athens
at the age of twelve, in the violin department. In 1987, aged fifteen he began composition studies under Professor
George Hadjinikos
, and then in 1989 under Professor B. Shreck. From 1994 to 1999, Currentzis studied conducting supported by a scholarship from the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation in the
St. Petersburg State Conservatory
with
Ilya Musin
.
[1]
From 2004 to 2010, Currentzis served as principal conductor of the
Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre
, where in 2004 he founded the Orchestra MusicAeterna and later the Chorus MusicAeterna.
[
citation needed
]
In 2009, Currentzis acted in
Ilya Khrzhanovsky
's film
Dau
(
Russian
:
Дау
) based on the biography of the physicist
Lev Landau
.
[
citation needed
]
In February 2011, Currentzis became music director of the
Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre
, to which he brought both of his MusicAeterna groups.
[2]
In 2011, Currentzis became principal guest conductor of the
Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra
. Effective with the 2018?2019 season Currentzis became the first chief conductor of the
SWR Symphonieorchester
(created by the merger of the
Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra
with the
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
).
[3]
In September 2021, the SWR announced a 3-year extension to Currentzis' contract.
[4]
In September 2022, the SWR announced that Currentzis was to stand down as chief conductor of the SWR Symphonieorchester at the close of the 2024?2025 season.
[5]
The contract was not renewed upon his own request, and not for political reasons "as some had speculated or hoped".
[6]
In February 2024
Wiener Festwochen
cancelled a performance by Currentzis due to concerns raised by Ukrainian conductor
Oksana Lyniv
, who was also scheduled to perform at the festival, around Currentzis's links to Russia ? namely
VTB Bank
sponsoring a Currentzis lead Russian ensemble, and the Russian citizenship awarded to Currentzis by
Vladimir Putin
.
[7]
Critical reception
[
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]
Currentzis has the image of a punk "messiah and rebel," wearing lace-up boots, skinny jeans and a T-shirt on stage. He has been labeled eccentric for conducting from within the orchestra, leaving his stand. However, as of 2022 he has chosen to take on more traditional dress, appearing in black suits with white cuffed shirts, elegant evening shoes and a neat haircut.
[6]
Currentzis never distinguished himself as a Putin sympathizer, even before the Ukrainian War, unlike his colleague
Valeri Gergiev
, and he is much less involved in state structures than Gergiev.
[6]
[
clarification needed
]
Nevertheless, on 2 January 2024, he played the song “Moscow Evenings” at the
Saint Petersburg Philharmonia
during one of Russia's largest missile attacks on Ukraine.
[8]
Awards
[
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]
Currentzis has won the National Theatre Award
Golden Mask
nine times:
- 2007: Special Awards of the Musical Theatre Jury for Prokofiev's
Cinderella
.
- 2008: Special Award of the Musical Theatre Jury
For Impressive Achievements in Musical Authenticity
in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's
Le Nozze di Figaro
.
- 2011: Best Conductor of an opera for Berg's
Wozzeck
at the
Bolshoi Theater
.
[9]
- 2013: Best Conductor of an opera for Mozart's
Cosi fan tutte
- 2013: Best Conductor of a ballet for Prokofiev's
Chout
- 2015: Best Conductor of an opera for Purcell's
The Indian Queen
- 2017: Best Conductor of an opera for Verdi's
La Traviata
- 2018: Best Conductor of a ballet for Prokofiev's
Cinderella
- 2018: Special Awards of the Musical Theatre Jury for
Cantos
, Aleksey Syumak's opera
Productions
[
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]
Discography
[
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]
Recordings are with
Sony Classical
unless otherwise noted:
- Purcell:
Dido and Aeneas
(
Alpha
, 2008)
- Mozart:
Requiem
(Alpha, 2011)
- Shostakovich:
Symphony No. 14
(Alpha, 2011)
- Shostakovich:
Piano Concertos
;
Sonata for Violin and Piano
(
Harmonia Mundi
, 2012)
- Mozart:
Le nozze di Figaro
, 2014
- Rameau
:
The Sound of Light
, 2014
- Mozart:
Cosi fan tutte
, 2014
- Stravinsky:
Le Sacre du printemps
, 2015
- Tchaikovsky:
Violin Concerto
, Stravinsky:
Les Noces
, 2016
- Mozart:
Don Giovanni
, 2016
- Artyomov
: Symphony
Gentle Emanation
(Divine Art, 2016)
- Tchaikovsky:
Symphony No. 6
, 2017
- Mahler:
Symphony No. 6
, 2018
- Beethoven:
Symphony No. 5
, 2020
- Beethoven:
Symphony No. 7
, 2021
Filmography
[
edit
]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]
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