Vasily Petrenko’s engaging 2024-25 season is set to unfold next year with the launch of his latest series as Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall. Lights in the Dark will explore the many ways in which composers have responded to the existential threat of war and the untold suffering unleashed by oppressive regimes. The programme opens on 26 January with Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 ‘Emperor’, with Paul Lewis as soloist, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. It continues with three movements from Korngold’s The Sea Hawk Suite, Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, with Bruce Liu as soloist, and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra (23 March), followed by the intriguing mix of Sibelius’s Finlandia, Weill’s Four Walt Whitman Songs, with baritone Roderick Williams OBE, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No.7 ‘Leningrad’ (27 April).
Lights in the Dark concludes on 25 June with Dorothy Howell’s symphonic poem Lamia, written at the end of the First World War, and Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement, presented in company with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.4. “Lamia is a fantastic piece of music in a late-Romantic style,” observes Vasily Petrenko. “The Tchaikovsky explores life and death, the place of the composer, the place of the human in the great cycle of time; in the end, life and humanity triumph.”
Petrenko and the RPO will leave London at the end of January to undertake an extensive tour of central Europe. Their programme comprises major symphonic works by Bartók, Brahms, Dvořák and Mussorgsky together with the violin concertos of Tchaikovsky and Sibelius, with Julia Fischer as soloist. The tour begins on 30 January at Vienna’s Konzerthaus and proceeds to the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg (31 January), Hanover’s Kuppelsaal (1 February), the Cologne Philharmonie (2 February), Dusseldorf’s Tonhalle (3 February), Munich’s Isarphilharmonie (4 February), Liederhalle Stuttgart (6 February), Rosengarten Mannheim (7 February), Freiburg’s Konzerthaus (8 February), and Frankfurt Opera (9 February). Closer to home, Petrenko will lead the RPO on tour to the Royal Festival Hall in Nottingham and Symphony Hall, Birmingham (27 & 29 March) in performances of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor, with Esther Yoo, and Prokofiev’s Symphony No.5.
In addition to his work with the RPO, Petrenko is set to make his debut at Dutch National Opera and with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in six performances of Boris Godunov. Mussorgsky’s opera, scheduled to open on 10 June and run until 29 June, will be presented in a new staging by the Russian theatre and film director Kirill Serebrennikov. “I am delighted to join Dutch National Opera for this fresh look at Mussorgsky’s great work,” notes Vasily Petrenko. “Although I’ve performed Boris several times before, including at Bavarian State Opera last year, this will be my first new production. Dutch National Opera is one of the world’s most diverse opera companies, so the staging will involve people from many different backgrounds. I’m also looking forward to my first meeting with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, especially in Mussorgsky’s incredible score, which was so ahead of its time.”
Petrenko’s schedule comprises a rich and varied diet of guest conducting dates. He begins the new year in the company of student players, working with the National Youth Orchestra of Spain or JONDE (12-20 January) and the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra in London (23 January). “It is my passion to work with young musicians as often as possible,” he notes. “I conducted JONDE many years ago and it was a special experience to be on tour with them.” His visit to the RCM marks the start of a long-term strategy to unite the conservatoire’s young conductors with its student orchestra. “No amount of conducting with piano can replace this experience of working with an orchestra,” he observes. “The Royal College wants to see more opportunities like this in future, as it will help the next generation of conductors as well as the young orchestral players.”
Vasily Petrenko revisits the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra after an eight-year absence to conduct William Walton’s spectacular cantata Belshazzar’s Feast, with Nathan Berg and the mighty Atlanta Symphony Chorus, together with Sibelius’s Symphony No.1 (13 & 15 February). He remains stateside for performances with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., opening with Liadov’s symphonic poem Kikimora and Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No.1 with Tchaikovsky Competition prize winner Edgar Moreau. The programme closes with Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony (20, 22 & 23 February). “I find something new in Manfred every time I come back to it,” he observes. “It will be fascinating to see how the National Symphony Orchestra has developed under my good friend Gianandrea Noseda. I’ve heard many good things about them.”
Back in Europe, Petrenko will open his concert with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin with the Four Sea Interludes from Britten’s Peter Grimes. Their programme presents Ravel’s song-cycle Shéhérazade in company with Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite Sheherazade (1 March). He then travels to Geneva to conduct the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Prokofiev’s mighty Sinfonia-Concertante for cello and orchestra, with Kian Soltani, and Brahms’s Symphony No.1 (5, 6 & 7 March). Petrenko’s work with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra continues with a programme comprising the Adagio from Mahler’s Symphony No.10 and Shostakovich’s Symphony No.4 (5 & 6 April), followed by performances with the George Enescu Philharmonic, where he will conduct Mahler’s Symphony No.2 on 16 and 17 April.
Vasily Petrenko’s season ends with his return to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra as its Conductor Emeritus (3 July). “It’s always great to be back with them,” he comments. According to Google Maps Timeline, the conductor visited 93 cities in 29 countries last year and travelled the equivalent of 4.5 times round the world. “I think I might beat that by the time I reach Liverpool next summer! This is a really exciting season for me.”
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