The musical biography of the conductor of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St.Petersburg Philharmonia, Honoured artist of the Russian Federation Vladimir Altschuler, is tied with this orchestra. The perfection of Vladimir Altschuler as a musician had happened in the orchestra to which he came in 1969, one year before graduating from the Leningrad conservatory (class of Yuri Kramarov, viola). In 1982 he becomes the soloist of the viola group, and in a few years created the Philharmonic string orchestra. At the same time, the musician begins to study the conductor’s profession and enters the department of opera and symphony conducting to the professor of Leningrad conservatory, Alexander Dmitriev, the chief conductor of the Academic Symphony Orchestra. This orchestra had seen, in 1984 the conductor’s debut of Altschuler. The next step of his conducting career had become the leadership (from 1990 to date) the Chamber orchestra of the Academic troupe.
In 1994, the year in which Altschuler becomes the conductor of the Academic symphony orchestra, there begins a period of his intense artistic growth. His repertoire is wide, featuring music from Bach clavier concerts to Shostakovich score to movies; from waltzes and polkas of Strauss (festival the «Great Waltz») to Penderecki and Lutoslawsksi («Sound Ways Festival»). For the first time in Russia, Altschuler with the Academic symphony orchestra had performed all nine symphonies of Bruckner, Handel’s oratorio «Saul», the Monteverdi’s opera «Orpheus» (authentic version). A subject of the conductor’s special interest is the music of the XX century. Thus, a significant event has become his participation in performing the Military requiem of Britten; thanks to Altschuler, St. Petersburg has for the first time heard the «Child of our Time» of Tippet, and the musical drama of Orff, «Bernauerin». He conducted the premieres of the music by G. Ustvolskaya, Y. Falik, V. Basner and other St. Petersburg, Russian and foreign composers.
The musician is also keen on scientific research – his PhD art history dissertation is dedicated to the history, theory and practice of conducting. It is not surprising that the life of the conductor is organically complemented with the collaboration with St. Petersburg conservatory, where for several years he led the Chamber orchestra and taught the class of quartet. But the main place in his activity though occupies the work with the Academic symphony orchestra, including the joint St. Petersburg performances, audio recordings, tours. It is telling that the concert dedicated to the orchestra’s 70th anniversary, there were three musicians behind the conductor’s stand – Yuri Temirkanov, Alexander Dmitriev and Vladimir Altschuler.
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