Symphony No.3, Caprice Bohemien, Vocalise : V.Petrenko / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

Rachmaninov:
Caprice Bohemien, Op. 12
Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14 - arrangement for orchestra
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Recorded: 07-09/2010

Award winning conductor Vasily Petrenko's exceptional abilities as a renowned, inspiring conductor with major media appeal set him apart from the majority of his contemporaries. He is the youngest ever Principal (now Chief) Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and will add the role of Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic beginning with the 2013/2014 season. His commitment to musical education has led him to act as Principal Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and to be a founding member of the board of the UK's "Building on Excellence: Orchestras for the 21st Century' scheme, which endeavours to increase the participation in classical and cultural events amongst British youth.

Vasily Petrenko conducts the RLPO for Rachmaninov's third and most expressive symphony, paired with his capriccio on gypsy themes, the Caprice Bohemien.

Since Petrenko took up the baton of the RLPO's Principal Conductor in 2006 (and then Chief Conductor in 2009), this partnership has flourished; and the orchestra is now described as 'premier league'. Vasily has now committed to staying with the orchestra until 2015.

The partnership of Petrenko and the RLPO have been making critics and audiences sit up and take notice, particularly in their interpretations of music by the Russian masters. Petrenko chose to open this Autumn season on 10th Sept with a concert including Rachmaninov's 3rd Symphony.

The Guardian writes: 'Rachmaninov's Third Symphony is a work that has never gained much affection - too Romantic to appease the modernists, too modern to please conservatives - but the composer's sister-in-law rightly identified that "it is a work about Russia and our devotion to our beloved country". Petrenko chose the piece to commence his sixth season with the RLPO; and though he is well settled in Liverpool, it is on inspired nights like these that he seems to miss St Petersburg terribly.'