Evgeny Mravinsky

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Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Mravinsky (Russian: Евгений Александрович Мравинский, Evgenij Aleksandrovič Mravinskij) (4 June [O.S. 22 May] 1903–January 19, 1988) was a Russian conductor.

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[edit] Life and career

Mravinsky was born in Saint Petersburg. His father died in 1918, and in that same year, he began to work backstage at the Mariinsky Theatre. He first studied biology at the university in Leningrad, before going to the Leningrad Conservatory to study music. He served as a ballet repetiteur from 1923 to 1931. His first public conducting appearance was in 1929. Through the 1930s he conducted at the Kirov Ballet and Bolshoi Opera. In September 1938, he won the All-Union Conductors Competition in Moscow.

In October 1938, Mravinsky took up the post that he was to hold until 1988: principal conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he had made his debut appearance as a conductor in 1931.[1] Under Mravinsky, the Leningrad Philharmonic gained a legendary reputation, particularly in Russian music such as Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich. During World War II, Mravinsky and the orchestra were evacuated to Siberia.

Legend has it that at the first performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, during the applause immediately after the performance, Mravinsky took the score in his hand and waved it above his head. Mravinsky gave world premieres of six symphonies by Shostakovich: numbers 5, 6, 8 (which Shostakovich dedicated to Mravinsky), 9, 10 and finally 12 in 1961. His refusal to conduct the premiere of Shostakovich's 13th Symphony in 1962 caused a permanent rupture in their friendship.

He premiered Sergei Prokofiev's sixth symphony in Leningrad the year of its composition (1947, [1]).

Mravinsky made commercial studio recordings from 1938 to 1961. His issued recordings from after 1961 were taken from live concerts. His final recording was from an April 1984 live performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 12.

Mravinsky first took the orchestra on tour in 1946 to the Prague Spring Festival. Later tours included a June 1956 itinerary to West Germany, East Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Their only tour to Great Britain was in September 1960 to the Edinburgh Festival and the Royal Festival Hall, London. Their first tour to Japan was in May 1973. Their last foreign tour was in 1984, to West Germany.

His last concert was on March 6, 1987 (Schubert, Symphony No. 8, and Brahms, Symphony No. 4). Mravinsky died in Leningrad in 1988, aged 82.

[edit] Conducting style

Recordings reveal Mravinsky to have an extraordinary technical control over the orchestra, especially over dynamics. He was also a very exciting conductor, frequently changing tempo in order to heighten the musical effect for which he was striving. Surviving videos show that Mravinsky had a sober appearance[2] at the podium, making simple but very clear gestures, often without a baton. The critic David Fanning has memorably described some of Mravinsky's Tchaikovsky performances:

The Leningrad Philharmonic play like a wild stallion, only just held in check by the willpower of its master. Every smallest movement is placed with fierce pride; at any moment it may break into such a frenzied gallop that you hardly know whether to feel exhilarated or terrified". [2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ This fifty-year long association between a conductor and a major orchestra has been matched or approached only by Robert Kajanus with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Willem Mengelberg with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Ernest Ansermet with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Eugene Ormandy with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
  2. ^ Obituary for Evgeny Mravinsky, The Musical Times, 129(1741),p. 151 (1988).

[edit] Sources

  • Tassie, Gregor, "A Truly Noble Conductor". Gramophone (US Edition), May 2002, pp. 36-37.
  • Tassie, Gregor, Yevgeny Mravinsky: The Noble Conductor, The Scarecrow Press, 2005 (ISBN 978-0810854277)

[edit] Media

  • Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony
    This excerpt from the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony demonstrates some of Mravinsky's distinctive qualities. The conductor uses his control of dynamics and tempo to achieve a breathtakingly exciting and emotional result. Many of these details are introduced by Mravinsky and are not in Tchaikovsky's original score
  • Problems playing the files? See media help.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Fritz Stiedry		 Principal Conductor, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra
1938–1988		 Succeeded by
Yuri Temirkanov