musicAeterna orchestra performed without Teodor Currentzis

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Greek and Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis gained fame thanks to his work as artistic director at the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater, turning it into a place of attraction for many stars and music lovers from all over the world. Oo is the winner of five awards: Russian - Golden Mask, Order of Friendship, Stroganov Prize, as well as two Greek awards - Commander of the Order of the Phoenix and KAIROS-Preis. He starred in two films: the biographical drama “Dau” and the documentary film Conduction.

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Childhood and youth

Teodor Currentzis was born into the family of a policeman and a pianist. Speaking about his parents, the conductor recalls that his father had a liberal mother and gave him more freedom in childhood. And his mother instilled discipline, thanks to which, coupled with talent, he became famous.

My love for music came from an early age thanks to my mother. She worked as a vice-rector at a conservatory and played several instruments. Theodore began attending music school at the age of four, first mastering the piano, and a few years later the violin.

By the age of 12, he entered the First Greek Conservatory in two faculties at once - theoretical and string instruments, while simultaneously studying vocals.

There was another child in the family - the younger brother of Theodore Evangelos, Vangelino - also a musician: he can play the piano masterfully and write music. In his youth, Theodore himself taught him a lot. The brothers are best friends, despite the fact that one lives in Russia and the other settled in Prague, they often communicate and sometimes create together.

The path to popularity

In 1990, at the age of 18, Theodore created his own orchestra performing chamber music. After 4 years of existence, he realized that he wanted to achieve new heights and came to Russia to study conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. After five years of study, he becomes an assistant orchestra conductor at the Philharmonic. In his youth he actively collaborates with various famous orchestras.

First success

In 2003, at the Novosibirsk Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (NGATOiB), he became the conductor of the ballet “The Fairy’s Kiss”, and a year later - the opera “Aida”, with which he received the Golden Mask award. At the same time, he became the musical director and chief conductor at the NGATOiB, where he created the chamber orchestra Musica Aeterna Ensemble and the choir The New Siberian Singers. The groups gained popularity not only in Russia, but also abroad. When summing up the results of the 2005-2006 season, leading critics named Theodore “Person of the Year.”

The conductor conquered Moscow with a series of concerts at the capital's Philharmonic in the 2007-2008 season and already in the next season he became a permanent guest conductor of the Bolshoi Theater.

Since 2011, he has headed the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater. Over the course of 5 years of leadership, he was able to bring him to a leadership position in the domestic theater scene and glorify him abroad. The Musica Aeterna Ensemble orchestra actively tours European countries and breaks records in the number of nominations for the Golden Mask Award.

Creation

For a couple of years, the virtuoso collaborated with Vladimir Spivakov and the national orchestra, with whom he even went on international tours. Then there was work with the Pyotr Tchaikovsky Orchestra and a trip around the world to the USA, Bulgaria and beloved Greece. A new milestone in Currentzis’s career was his work as a conductor in the Moscow theater, in which Theodor performed 2 productions of the great Giuseppe Verdi.

During his career, Theodore attended a large number of festivals and competitions, and also played a couple of hundred different world and Russian works.

The Music Aeterna orchestra and the chamber choir New Siberian Singers, created by Theodor, appeared during the conductor’s work in Novosibirsk. These musical associations became known all over the world, and trips to perform in cities added thousands more people to the army of fans of Currentzis’ work. Theodor made his debut at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater with a production of the ballet “The Fairy’s Kiss” by Igor Stravinsky, choreographed by Alla Sigalova.

For the first time on the same stage, Cecilia Bartoli and Teodor Currentzis.
On September 13 and 15, the Lucerne Festival will feature two evenings with... Published by Teodor Currentzis Friday, September 13, 2020

Theodor Currentzis and Cecilia Bartoli
With these groups, Theodor at different times performed concert performances of the operas “Dido and Aeneas” (Henry Purcell), “Orpheus and Eurydice” (Christoph Gluck), “That’s What Everybody Do,” “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Don Giovanni” "(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), "Cinderella" (Gioacchino Rossini). The conductor repeatedly participated in the production of the opera La Traviata.

Among the best performances of the early period of his creative biography is the opera “Aida” by Giuseppe Verdi. In 2004, the production was awarded the Golden Mask Award. Three years later, Theodore achieved the same success by presenting the opera “Cinderella” by Sergei Prokofiev to music critics.

A significant event in 2007 was the production of Verdi’s “Requiem” as part of the “Tribute to Svyatoslav Richter” project. The conductor changed the usual concept of the work, using an authentic composition of the orchestra, characteristic of the time of the great Italian composer.

with Patricia Kopatchinskaja photo by Masha Mitroshina
Published by Teodor Currentzis Friday, August 11, 2020

Theodor Currentzis and Patricia Kopatchinskaya
In January 2011, Theodor was appointed to the post of artistic director of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater named after Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It is known that then some of the musicians of the Music Aeterna orchestra moved to Perm with him. After this, Currentzis staged the opera Iolanta at the Teatro Real in Madrid.

Work on the territory of the Russian Federation continues to this day. Theodore himself said more than once that he would stay here forever. His attraction to Russian music and folklore is so piercing that he will no longer be able to leave the lands that have become his home. In 2014, the musician received Russian citizenship.

In 2017, the eminent conductor continued to travel around the world, performing in different cities with a concert program consisting of compositions beloved by the public. At the end of November, the artist visited the St. Petersburg Philharmonic named after Dmitri Shostakovich, the Moscow Conservatory named after Pyotr Tchaikovsky and the Tonhall concert hall (Zurich).

Ksenia Sobchak interviewed the famous conductor Teodor Currentzis afisha.mstrok.ru/33035 Former artistic...
Published by Nizhny Tagil Poster Thursday, July 4, 2020

Teodor Currentzis and Ksenia Sobchak
The schedule of performances was planned by day. Before the New Year, classical music lovers living in Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen and Perm also heard a concert performance of familiar melodies by the Music Aeterna orchestra.

In the summer of 2020, Currentzis, accompanied by the Perm Opera Orchestra, performed 9 symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven as part of the Salzburg Festival.

It is reliably known that the musician is not on Instagram and Twitter. Fans can learn about the latest news from Theodore’s life on the conductor’s official website. There, anyone can get acquainted with the schedule of upcoming concerts, as well as materials related to the creative biography of the star.

Verdi's Requiem in New York Photo by Alexandra Muravyeva
Published by Teodor Currentzis Wednesday, November 20, 2020

Teodor Currentzis and the MusicAeterna Orchestra
Theodor was invited to play the role of the main character, Soviet physicist Lev Landau, in the project of director Ilya Khrzhanovsky - the biographical drama “Dau”. Filming began in 2009, and only 10 years later the world premiere of the film took place in Paris. This is the only work of a conductor in a feature film as an actor. In 2013, Currentzis also starred in the documentary Conduction.

In the summer of 2020, the management of the Perm Opera House announced the termination of the contract with artistic director Teodor Currentzis. The conductor spoke about the reasons for his departure from the theater group in an interview with Ksenia Sobchak in her show “Beware, Sobchak!”

According to the maestro, rehearsal conditions in Perm left much to be desired. But it was precisely in such “hungry” conditions that Theodor was able to present to the world the immortal works of Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke. Already in the fall, an agreement was reached to hold the Diaghilev Festival in 2020. The conductor's fee was about 600 thousand rubles.

The work of Teodor Currentzis is covered on television. At one time, he became a guest of the programs “Looking at Night” and “Unboring Classics”. Vladimir Pozner also interviewed the musician.

Present and creative plans

In the summer of 2020, Theodore stopped working at the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater. He spoke about the reasons for his decision in an interview with Ksenia Sobchak.

The new place for his creative activity was the historical building of the House of Radio in St. Petersburg, where the first floor is reserved for rehearsals and concerts. Such a move was met with negativity by city activists, who called the situation a “barbaric seizure” of a historical monument. They believe that the symbol of besieged Leningrad should remain so. But the building has long been in need of repairs and replacement of communications. The conductor said that he was coordinating with the owner the possibility of returning the former atmosphere that reigned in the building and searching for specialists to digitize the siege radio archive.

At the beginning of 2020, it became known that Teodor Currentzis had become the artistic director of the Diaghilev Festival in Perm . The date of the event is set from June 12 to June 21, 2020.

Professional activity

In 1990, the young musician created his own chamber orchestra in Athens, in which he was a conductor. For four years, Teodor Currentzis was the leader of the group: he selected the repertoire for the orchestra and led the rehearsal process.

Even in his youth, Theodore began to be interested in Russian classical music. In 1994, the musician came to St. Petersburg to conquer it with his talent. Theodor was admitted to the local conservatory on the course of Ilya Musin, where he studied until 1999. During his studies, the young man underwent an internship in the orchestra of Yuri Temirkanov. The conservatory teachers even then called Theodore a child prodigy and predicted a great creative future for him.

After graduating from the conservatory, Theodore began to work closely. He collaborated with Vladimir Spivakov and the Pyotr Tchaikovsky Orchestra. He toured the USA, Greece, Bulgaria and other countries.

He worked at the Moscow Theater as a conductor, where he worked on two productions of the great Verdi. The best performance of his early work as a conductor was the opera “Aida” by Giuseppe Verdi. Also significant musical works in the musician’s career were: “Cinderella” (Sergei Prokofiev), “Requiem” (Verdi), “Don Giovanni” (Amadeus Mozart), “Orpheus and Eurydice” (Christophe Gluck), “Dido and Aeneas” (Henry Purcell) and many others.

Since 2004, Theodore has created a group - the Music Aeterna Orchestra (since 2004), with which the conductor performs all over the world, regularly increasing fans of his talent. The musician also collaborates with numerous other orchestras in Russia, among which are the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra, the Academic Symphony Orchestra, and the Russian National Orchestra.

From 2011 to 2020, Teodor Currentzis worked at the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater named after Tchaikovsky. He lived of his own free will an hour’s drive from the city in a village cottage.

In 2020, Theodore had extensive tours around the world. Since 2019, Theodor has lived in St. Petersburg and, together with his orchestra Musica Aeterna, rehearses at the House of Radio. Among the conductor’s bright concert performances, one can especially highlight his performance in 2020 at the Moscow Philharmonic with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaya. In the fall of 2020, the musician canceled his own concerts with the orchestra due to health problems.

The charming artist first began acting in films in 2009. Theodor played the controversial leading role of physicist Lev Landau (Nobel Prize winner) in the art-house biographical drama Dau directed by Ilya Khrzhanovsky. The premiere of this project took place only 10 years later - in 2020.

In 2020, the Dau project was shown at numerous festivals. The film tells the story of the violence of the totalitarian era. In addition to Theodore, the film also starred such actors as Radmila Shchegleva, Anatoly Vasiliev, Stanislav Oskolkov, Ekaterina Andreeva, Natalya Berezhnaya, Mikhail Dobkin, Dmitry Gordon and other interesting and talented artists.

At the 70th Berlin International Film Festival "Silver Bear" the film received the Grand Prix for best cinematography. To date, this is the conductor’s only work as a film actor.

The conductor's fees today are enormous , Teodor Currentzis is successful and in demand as a talented musician.

Theodore very often is a guest on various television projects, including “Looking at Night”, “Unboring Classics”. The musician was interviewed by Ksenia Sobchak and Vladimir Pozner.

From 2014 to 2020, the conductor created nine discs with various masterpieces of classical music. In April 2020, Theodore released Beethoven Symphony No. 5." It was recorded in the Sony Classic studio.

Teodor Currentzis regularly takes part in various competitions and festivals in Bangkok, Miami, London, Colmar and other cities. Theodore is recognized as a brilliant conductor all over the world, but the musician chose the Russian Federation for his creative path. His concerts are characterized by expressiveness and interaction with the audience.

Personal life of a conductor

At the beginning of his career, the conductor married the famous ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Yulia Makhalina. Her fame and connections influenced his recognition among the cultural elite of St. Petersburg. But the marriage did not last long due to different views on creative self-realization. There are rumors that the family collapsed due to the difficult character of Yulia, who by that time had been married twice. The divorce took place quietly, without loud scandals and, according to the former spouses, by mutual consent.

Teodor Currentzis and his ex-wife Yulia Makhalina

Since the moment the conductor divorced the ballerina, he has not been in a serious relationship and prefers to hide his personal life from everyone. For this reason, it is difficult to know if a talented musician is dating someone. Various rumors have repeatedly attributed to him affairs with women, and some also spoke of homosexuality. But these speculations were never confirmed.

Theodore himself does not like to talk about his personal life. But he is very romantic. And he often gives loving analogies when talking about his work and creativity:

“I try not to use the conductor’s baton. It’s like hugging the girl you love with crutches.”

And the man also dreams of children. He says that he wants to experience fatherly love and have children with the woman whom he has loved for the rest of his life. In the meantime, there is no such thing, he gives his affection and care to his loved ones and his dog.

Teodor Currentzis: personal life and family

Bright and famous people are always of interest to people and the media. Teodor Currentzis is no exception, whose personal life is under close attention. The conductor, however, does not feel inconvenienced and often happily communicates with the press, talking about his creative plans and his views on music. But the question of whether Teodor Currentzis is married or not always remains unanswered. Although many ladies are waiting for him with trepidation, because the musician embodies the ideals of many women: rich, famous, handsome. So is Teodor Currentzis free? He had a wife, and this is reliably known. Even at the dawn of his life in Russia, he was captivated by a ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater. Teodor Currentzis + Yulia Makhalina - the duet has become a noticeable phenomenon in the cultural life of St. Petersburg.

The ballerina spent a lot of effort on promoting her husband up the career ladder; he owes her many high-profile acquaintances that were useful to him in the future. By the time she met the conductor, Julia was already a star; she was actively promoted by choreographer O.M. Vinogradov, and she could say a word in support of the aspiring musician. The marriage did not last long. Is Teodor Currentzis married today? Personal things are a taboo topic for him, although rumor attributes him to many novels.

Appearance

Theodore's style is theatrical and thought out to the smallest detail. He prefers only black and white colors in clothes.

Photo by Teodor Currentzis

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