Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 Ural Philharmonic Orchestra & Dmitry Liss

• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943): Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27:
• 1Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27: I. Largo - Allegro moderato18:56
• 2Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27: II. Allegro molto09:32
• 3Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27: III. Adagio14:54
• 4Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27: IV. Allegro vivace13:49
• Total Runtime57:11

Info for Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2

“I don’t want to betray that constantly sounding tone in me, through which I hear the world around,” acknowledged Sergei Rachmaninov. This tone stimulated by the intonations of folk melodies and bell ringing, and the imagery of the Russian landscape, permeates his Second Symphony. It became a landmark work for the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, whose performances in the leading concert venues of Europe and Asia were widely admired. Dmitry Liss, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Orchestra has created a musical collective of remarkable quality during his 25-year tenure. A life-long personal favourite of Liss, Rachmaninov is frequently included in the Orchestra’s programmes, both in Russia and abroad. “For me, his music is as much a symbol of the flourishing Russian culture of the Silver Age as works by Bunin and Chekhov”, states Liss. “His music always captivates me with its incredible emotional sincerity expressed in a reserved, noble and aristocratic way. Perhaps it’s this combination which gives his music such extraordinary depth.”

The album was recorded and mixed by the St. Petersburg company ReachSound. Art using proprietary immersive technologies.

Ural Philharmonic Orchestra
Dmitry Liss, conductor

Ural Philharmonic Orchestra
Founded in 1936, the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra (UPO) is one of the major Russian symphony orchestras. UPO performs over 100 concerts and 70 programs annually. It toured 21 countries and performed in major venues. Those include Berliner Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, Wiener Konzerthaus, Royal Concertgebouw, Salle Pleyel, Tonhalle, Victoria Hall, J. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Zaryadye, St. Petersburg Philharmonia and Mariinsky Theatre, as well as venues in Japan, China, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Croatia and other countries.

Ural Philharmonic Orchestra recorded 38 CDs with Sony Classical, Warner Classics, Mirare, Signum Records, and other labels. In 2018, their “Russian Light” album released by Sony Classical with soprano Olga Peretyatko and Maestro Dmitry Liss received Opus Klassik award.

In its July 2020 issue, BBC Music Magazine included Ural Philharmonic Orchestra’s recording of Gabriel Prokofiev’s concertos, released by Signum Records (feat. Brandon Marsalis, Mr. Switch, Joby Burgess, Boris Andrianov; conductor Alexey Bogorad) in its “10 of the best concertos” list.

UPO initiates and plays a major role in a number of important international events at the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic, including the Symphony Forum of Russia, the Eurasia International Music Festival, La Folle Journée, and Bach-fest. Ural Philharmonic Orchestra performed at many landmark festivals, including La Folle Journee (Nantes and the Loire region, Bilbao, Tokyo), Beethovenfest (Bonn), Kissinger Sommer (Bad Kissingen), Rheingau Musik Festival (Wiesbaden), Radio France Festival (Montpellier), International Piano Festival La Roque-d'Antheron, Russian Christmas at the Kennedy Center (Washington), the Arts Square International Winter Festival, Vadim Repin’s Trans-Siberian Art Festival.

Ural Philharmonic Orchestra enjoyed collaboration with conductors Dmitry Kitaenko, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Vladimir Fedoseev, Klaus Tennstedt, Krzysztof Penderecki, Eliahu Inbal, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Valery Gergiev, Leif Segerstam, Alexander Lazarev, Mikhail Pletnev, Andrey Boreyko, Daniel Raiskin; and soloists, including Mstislav Rostropovich, Viktor Tretyakov, Dmitry Bashkirov, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Eliso Virsaladze, Natalia Gutman, Yuri Bashmet, Nikolai Petrov, Olga Borodina, Alexander Knyazev, Liana Isakadze, Peter Donohoe, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Boris Berezovsky, Nikolai Lugansky, Benjamin Grosvenor, Vadim Repin, Denis Matsuev, Sergej Krylov, Freddy Kempf, Vadym Kholodenko, Anna Netrebko, Andrei Korobeinikov, Sayaka Shoji, Olga Peretyatko, Alena Baeva.

Ural Philharmonic Orchestra is a collective with an 85-years history and its own performing style. It continues and multiplies the traditions laid down by several generations of musicians and the Orchestra’s founders – maestros Mark Paverman and Alexander Fridlender, representatives of the Moscow & St. Petersburg (Leningrad) conducting schools respectively. In 1936, Maestro Paverman formed a new orchestra from the Sverdlovsk Regional Radio Symphony Orchestra that he founded two years earlier. It was named Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. Its current name, Ural Philharmonic Orchestra has been in use since 1990.

In 1996, the UPO Fund was established. It helped the Orchestra overcome the crisis period and continue its creative growth. It provided for the Orchestra to receive eleven collectible string instruments by the historic luthiers and upgrade the winds group instruments collection. In 2017, the Orchestra received Presidential grant in the field of culture and art.

Since 2019, Ural Philharmonic has been part of the International project Russian Seasons, representing the best of Russian culture abroad.

In 2020, the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitry Liss received the Prize of the National Association of Music Critics – “for the artistic achievements”.

Dmitry Liss
was born on October 28, 1960 in Balashov, Saratov region. He finished Kharkiv Specialized Music School, majoring in Сlarinet, Theory and History of Music (1979). He graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory, Opera and Orchestral Conducting, class of Professor Dmitry Kitaenko (1984). Dmitry Liss has led Ural Phiharmonic Orchestra since 1995.

His professional career started with the position of Assistant Conductor (1983-84) at Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Dmitry Kitaenko. From 1991 to 1995, Liss was Chief Conductor of the Kuzbass Symphony Orchestra. In 1995, he won Lovro Matacic International Competition of Young Conductors in Zagreb. He worked as Chief Russian conductor of the Russian-American Youth Orchestra (1997 to 1999); Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (1999 to 2003), and Chief Conductor of Philharmonie Zuidnederland (2016-21).

As guest conductor, Dmitry Liss has worked with all the major symphony orchestras of Russia, as well as with the National Orchestras of France, Hungary, Estonia, the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony (Japan), KBS Symphony (Korea), orchestras of the USA, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland and many other countries.

Since 2011, Dmitry Liss has been the Artistic Director of the Eurasia International Music Festival hosted by the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic, where he has conducted a number of Russian and world premieres.

Led by Dmitry Liss, the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra took part in prestigious international festivals, toured around the world, and recorded 32 CDs.

Booklet for Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2