Plakidis: Glance Back Latvian National Symphony Orchestra & Vassily Sinaisky

• Pēteris Plakidis (1947 - 2017):
• 1 Canto 20:37
• 2 Variations 19:25
• 3 Legend 15:28
• 4 Glance Back 15:25
• Total Runtime 01:10:55

Info for Plakidis: Glance Back

This album contains world premiere recordings of symphonic works by Latvian composer Peteris Plakidis performed by Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and it’s Honorary Conductor Vassily Sinaisky.

The four symphonic works of this album have been composed between 1975 and 1991, the period the dominant aesthetic and stylistic vein in Plakidis’ music was Latvia itself, the image of his native country and his own people. During this period of Soviet occupation, beyond the bright facade of internationalism and generously funded cultural life, a very focused destruction of the Latvian nation was taking place at all possible levels and in all possible forms: in the economic, social and, of course, also the ideological and cultural spheres.

Precisely for this reason, it seems that these decades of deepest stagnation and denial of the true history and character of Latvians encouraged the creation of splendid art inspired by folklore. Use of diatonic and ancient modes, melodic motifs covering a narrow diapason, also intervals common to folk music, such as perfect fourths and fifths as well as, of course, augmented fourths, allusions to the playing of folk music instruments - especially wooden flutes, the goat’s horn and other wind instruments - as well as the ornamented, signalling motifs in the calls of livestock herders become Plakidis’ essencial “elements of construction” into a dramatically focused, masterfully built sound that each time adds up to a different, unique story. Four of them - Canto, Variations, Legend and Glance Back you can sample in this new SKANI album.

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra
Vassily Sinaisky, conductor

Vassily Sinaisky
One of the great Russian conductors schooled in the tradition of Musin and Kondrashin, Vassily Sinaisky is known for his interpretations of Russian, German and English repertoire. Sinaisky also has a distinguished pedigree as an operatic conductor and from 2010 to 2013, was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow.

Vassily Sinaisky’s international career was launched in 1973 when he won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Karajan Competition in Berlin. His early work with Kirill Kondrashin at the Moscow Philharmonic and with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatoire provided him with an incomparable grounding. Soon after his success at the Karajan Competition, Sinaisky was appointed Chief Conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, a post he held from 1976 to 1987. He then became Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic, leading numerous high-profile projects with the Orchestra both in Russia and on tour.

In the 2016/17 season Sinaisky will conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra twice in Birmingham and on tour to China, the BBC Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, the SWR Stuttgart on tour, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Helsinki Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Taiwan Philharmonic and Nashville Symphony.

Sinaisky holds the positions of Conductor Emeritus of the BBC Philharmonic. Memorable projects with the BBC Philharmonic have included the ‘Shostakovich and his Heroes’ festival, tours to Europe and China, as well as many appearances at the BBC Proms. Sinaisky has also held the positions of Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and Music Director of the Russian State Orchestra. Whilst Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Sinaisky conducted many acclaimed productions including Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel directed by Kirill Serebrennikov and Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier directed by Stephen Lawless (the first ever staging of this work in Moscow).

Sinaisky has conducted Iolanta and Francesca da Rimini in new productions by Stephen Lawless at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien. He also conducted Boris Godunov at San Francisco Opera. Other projects have included productions of The Fiery Angel at Komische Opera Berlin, and The Queen of Spades at Hungarian State Opera, Carmen and Der Rosenkavalier for English National Opera and an acclaimed Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with Hans Neuenfels at the Komische Oper Berlin.

Vassily Sinaisky’s recordings include a set of the symphonies of Franz Schmidt for Naxos with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra. His other recordings include many with the BBC Philharmonic including works by Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky- Korsakov, Shchedrin, Glinka, Liadov, Schreker and Szymanowski. His most recent recording is of the Tcahikovsky and Grieg Concerti with Denis Kozhukhin and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin for Pentatone. Vassily Sinaisky is a noted and influential teacher, and holds the position of Professor of Conducting at the St Petersburg Conservatoire.

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO)
whose history spans nearly a century, is one of the foundations of Latvian national culture. The LNSO’s mission is to provide excellent musical performances of a wide spectrum of symphony music repertoire, to introduce Latvian listeners with the world’s classic and contemporary works and, likewise, to acquaint audiences abroad with Latvian music treasures.

One of the main aims of the LNSO involves continuously seeking and finding new audiences by creating educational programmes in a modern, creative, fresh format.

The LNSO is a five-time winner of Latvia’s highest classical music award – the Grand Music Award (1993, 2009, 2012, 2013, and 2016).

Since 2013, the music director and chief conductor of the LNSO is maestro Andris Poga, a conductor sought after by top orchestras in Europe, China, and Japan. From season 2021/2022, Poga will conduct the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Norway. French music critic Florence Michel has said of Poga: ‘He leads his army with precision and inner calm. His intentions do not rely on chance, which is why the complete architecture of the composition stands on solid ground and is illuminated by flowing, inviting plot guideline.’

Orchestra’s most notable former music directors are Jānis Mediņš, Leonīds Vīgners, Edgars Tons, Vassily Sinaisky (LNSO’s honorary guest conductor since 2017), Olari Elts, and Karel Mark Chichon. LNSO’s guest conductors include world-famous Latvians Arvīds Jansons, Mariss Jansons and Andris Nelsons, as well as Valery Gergiev, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Kirill Kondrashin, Kurt Masur, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Yuri Simonov, and many others.

During the concert season in winter, the orchestra shares the stage with renowned guests – conductors Vladimir Fedoseyev, Vassily Sinaisky, Jean Claude Casadesus, Gintaras Rinkevičius, Modestas Pitrėnas, Kristiina Poska, soloists Nicholas Angelich, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Albrecht Mayer, Baiba Skride, and others.

In the past six years, the LNSO has performed in Alte Oper Frankfurt and Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, in Grand Théâtre de Provence of Aix-en-Provence and in Arsenal de Metz. The orchestra’s performances include nine concerts in the renowned Crazy Day festival in Nantes, appearances in the Roque-d’Anthéron international piano festival, Bratislava concert hall, and Philharmonie de Paris. In the most recent tours, the LNSO teamed up with dazzling violinist Baiba Skride, outstanding cellist Alexander Knyazev, brilliant pianists Nicholas Angelich and Boris Berezovsky, young top talents Lukas Geniušas and Lucas Debargue.

As regards future tours, the LNSO plans to perform with Iveta Apkalna at the Philharmonie de Paris in 2021.

Since 2015, the LNSO organises the LNSO Summer Festival for families and friends in Latvia’s regional acoustic concert halls in late August. The city of Cēsis has hosted the festival three times, and August, 2019, will see the festival’s return to the city of Rēzekne, GORS concert hall.

In the festival, the LNSO stages chamber productions by Latvian authors for children and teenagers, including The Wind in the Willows and Loranga by Edgars Mākens and Ģirts Šolis, Zenith by Jānis Šipkēvics and Marts Pujāts, Tale of Diegabiksis by Rihards Zaļupe. The festival also offers interactive music classes and musical morning workouts. Grown-ups can enjoy chamber music concerts, opera productions (The Human Voice by Poulenc, Lohengrin by Wagner, modern ballet production Carmen), as well as symphony music and popular music concerts in the evening. The LNSO Summer Festival guests include Baiba Skride, Georgijs Osokins, Andrejs Osokins, Corby Welch, Karen Vourc’h, Kim Criswell, Daumants Kalniņš, Raimonds Tiguls, Ieva Saliete, Matīss Čudars, and other remarkable artists.

Booklet for Plakidis: Glance Back