Currentzis, Theodore

From the age of four, he studied piano , from the age of seven he took violin lessons , and five years later he entered the theoretical faculty and the string instrument faculty of the Greek Conservatory in Athens .

In 1987 he graduated from the Theoretical Department of the Greek Conservatory , in 1989 - the Department of String Instruments.

In 1988 - 1989, he studied vocals at the Greek Conservatory under Professor D. Arivas, continued his studies at the Athens Academy with Professor K. Pascalias, and later attended master classes by G. Gabor.

In 1990, he founded the chamber orchestra in Athens .

From 1994 to 1999 he studied conducting with Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory . As a conductor and soloist, he took part in the concert programs of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra , St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra , and the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra .

Since 1999, he has become an assistant conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Yuri Temirkanov .

Currentzis constantly collaborates with the Moscow Virtuosi Orchestra, the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra (BSO) , the Russian National Orchestra (RNO) , the State Academic Symphony Orchestra (GASO) , and the New Russia Orchestra . With the Pratum Integrum orchestra, combining the best Russian performers of ancient music on historical instruments, he prepared, performed and took part in the recording of the first Russian symphony CD - C-dur Symphony by Maxim Berezovsky . Since 2003 - permanent conductor of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia (NFOR) .

Repeatedly performed at festivals in Colmar , Bangkok , London , Ludwigsburg , Miami .

Conductor of the world premiere of the Russian opera “The Blind Swallow” by Alexander Schetinsky (libretto by A. Parin ) in Lokkum ( Germany ) as part of the 2002 music festival.

In October 2003, he acted as director of the ballet Fairy Kiss Igor Stravinsky at the Novosibirsk Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (NGATOiB) (choreographer Alla Sigalova ).

In March 2004, as a conductor, he staged Giuseppe Verdi 's opera Aida (directed by Dmitry Chernyakov ) at the NGATOiB . The performance was awarded the Golden Mask Award.

Since May 2004 - music director and chief conductor of NGATOiB . In the same year, he created the chamber orchestra Musica Aeterna Ensemble and the chorus The New Siberian Singers, which specialize in historical performance, on the basis of the theater.

In 2005 and 2006, he performed concert performances of the operas Dido and Aeneas by G. Purcell , Orpheus and Eurydice by K. V. Gluck (as edited by G. Berlioz ), “ Everybody Does That ”, “ The Wedding of Figaro ”, “ Don Juan” Mozart , in 2007 - Cinderella by J. Rossini .

At the beginning of the 2006-2007 season, he again acted as conductor of the performances of the NGATOiB - “ The Wedding of Figaro ” (directed by Tatyana Gyurbacha) and “ Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk Uyezd ” (directed by Heinrich Baranovsky).

One of the founders and art directors of the festival-school of contemporary art TERRITORIЯ (since 2005), which takes place annually in October in the city of Moscow.

Since the fall of 2006, among the well-known young cultural figures, he is a co-organizer of the Territory Festival of Contemporary Art.

In the framework of the project “ Offering to Svyatoslav Richter ” on March 20, 2007, Theodor Currentzis introduced Verdi to the public “ Requiem ”, changing his usual interpretation and bringing the composition of instruments closer to the one that sounded at the premiere in 1874 .

In April 2007, the performance of the NGATOiB “ Cinderella ” became the laureate of the Golden Mask National Theater Award. Theodor Currentzis, conductor and musical director of the ballet, was awarded a special jury prize "For the vivid embodiment of the score of S. S. Prokofiev ."

In addition to the interest in the music of the composers of the Baroque and Classicism , successful experiences in the field of authentic performance, Theodor Currentzis pays great attention to the music of our days in his work. Over the past few years, the conductor has performed more than 20 world premieres of works by Russian and foreign authors.

In the 2007-2008 season, the Moscow Philharmonic presented the personal subscription “Theodor Currentzis Conducts”, whose concerts were a resounding success.

In June 2008, he made his debut at the Paris National Opera as the conductor of the production of Don Carlos opera by J. Verdi . In December 2008, he was the musical director of the production of J. Verdi's opera Macbeth , a joint project of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater and the Paris National Opera. In April 2009, the premiere was a huge success in Paris .

Since the season of 2009-2010. Theodor Currentzis is a permanent guest conductor of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater of Russia . In November 2009, on the New Stage of the Bolshoi, under the direction of Theodor Currentzis, the premiere performances of the opera by A. Berg “ Wozzeck ” (staged by D. Chernyakov ) took place.

In January 2011, he was appointed artistic director of the Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theater of Perm ^[3] . Together with him, part of the musicians of the Musica Aeterna Ensemble orchestra moved to Perm .

At the beginning of 2012 he participated as a conductor in the production of the operas Iolanta and Persephone (directed by Peter Sellars ) at the Real Madrid Theater, in May 2012 - in the Russian premiere of Pascal Dusapin ’s opera as a part of the 6th Diaghilev Festival in Perm .

He proposes to create a conservatory in Perm with a modern education system ^[4] .

In 2015, he toured for the first time at the Lucerne Festival , in 2017 - a scholarship holder (artist-in-residence) of this festival ^[5] .

In the same 2018, he took the post of chief conductor of the recently created Symphony Orchestra of the South-West Radio of Germany .

On June 21, 2019, the Perm Opera announced that at the beginning of the next theater season, conductor Theodor Currentzis will leave the post of artistic director of the theater ^[6] .

• 2009 - starred in the biographical drama of I. Khrzhanovsky “ Dau, ” - plays the role of Leo Landau ^[7] .
• 2013 - a documentary with the participation of Theodor Currentzis "Conduction" (directed by Alexey Loginov).

While still in Novosibirsk, I applied for Russian citizenship ^[4] , which was satisfied in the spring of 2014 ^[8] .

At the beginning of April 2015, he published an open letter in which he expressed concern about the decision of the Ministry of Culture to remove the director of NGATOiB Boris Mezdrich :

It is hard to imagine that there are people who are so tired of free Russia that they miss the snitching and repression of the Soviet past ... It turns out that the terrible lessons of history have not taught us anything ...

Does this mean that there are times when we can create freely only outside our country? Well, only government concerts and music ordered by the boss in accordance with his tastes will be played here? ^[9]

Mother is a pianist. There is brother Vangelino, composer and pianist.

He was married to the ballerina Yulia Makhalina .

• Commander of the Order of the Phoenix ( 2018 , Greece ) ^[10] .
• Order of Friendship ( October 29, 2008 , Russia ) - for his great contribution to the preservation, development and popularization of Russian culture abroad ^[11] .
• The Golden Mask : 2004, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2015 ^[12]
• Stroganov Prize: 2013
• KAIROS-Preis: 2016 ^[13]